


BixCo Week 2017

by apriiil



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Adopted Children, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Animal Death, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Awkward Kissing, Awkward Tension, Babysitting, BixCo Week, BixCo Week 2017, Canon Universe, Dark Guild Fairy Tail, Homophobic Language, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Librarian AU, M/M, Pirate AU, Seasickness, Trick or Treating, pharmacist au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-21 19:37:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 43,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12464460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apriiil/pseuds/apriiil
Summary: The first official BixCo Week, running from October 24th to the 30th, with the 31st being a bonus day.Cross-posted on Fanfiction.net and Tumblr.





	1. Welcome to BixCo Week

So, because my (second) favourite dorks don't get half as much love as they deserve, I decided to give them an entire week. This is kind of a last minute thing in a way, because I really never planned on hosting a ship week by myself... But, well... It's BixCo. I'll drown myself in more fics just for BixCo.

AO3 Edit: These are all posted on Fanfiction.net [here](https://www.fanfiction.net/~apriiil), otherwise on my tumblr [here](https://raijindork.tumblr.com/tagged/bixcoweek) (they are all queued to be posted on the correct days, since yes, I posted them all at the same time on here because I'm lazy). 

* * *

_Week Dates: Oct. 24 - 31_

Day 1 / October 24th - Birthday

Day 2 / October 25th - Unconventional

Day 3 / October 26th - Babies

Day 4 / October 27th - Marks/Scars

Day 5 / October 28th - Pets

Day 6 / October 29th - Wicked

Day 7 / October 30th - Horizon

Bonus Day 8 / October 31st - Halloween

* * *

The funny thing is, I'm actually kicking this week off on my birthday, so hence the prompt on the first day. I thought it fit too well. This entire thing is like a birthday present to myself. I get to write lots of BixCo, and what's there not to love about that? As for the rest of the prompts... Well, some of them are pretty self explanatory. I think these are pretty easy prompts as far as word prompts go. But, it was also my first time having to come up with prompts that not only challenged me, but will also (hopefully) challenge others. A lot of these prompts can also be interpreted in a lot of different ways, so that's always nice.

Also, I think it might be worth mentioning, that if anyone does decide to take part in this week (which I seriously hope you do!), that there's no obligation to make anything overly 'shippy'. I know one person already is considering only writing something for them in a BrOTP sense, which is more than fine. It's up to you guys to decide how to interpret and write for the prompts, as well as the pairing.

* * *

Anyway. Despite it not being until October, I thought I'd post this overview chapter now so people can know about it as early as possible. I am honestly super excited for this week. Some of my chapter stories/other fics might suffer for a little bit while I'm trying to write these between university classes, but that's okay.

If you do decide to take part, please let me know! Also, if you're on Tumblr, there's an announcement post about this on my main blog,  **raijindork**.

For now, though, I look forward to seeing you all at the end of October!


	2. Birthday

Erik had always liked the library. He didn't read as much as he used to, before he'd lost his sight in one eye, but he still liked to do it occasionally, whenever he could, and he'd always found the library to be the best place to do so. It was quiet there, and he could hear his own thoughts for a change. His apartment building was always noisy, but it was the best he'd been able to afford when he moved there so he just put up with his neighbours constantly partying.

But the library was his escape from all of that. It was his safe-haven, his retreat. And the only good thing that came out of living where he did was that the city library was only a few blocks away.

It was a Saturday, which meant Erik was at the library again. He couldn't go very often during the week. He was mostly too tired to go after he finished work in the afternoon. But on the weekends, he was always there. The barista at the café just inside the library had started to recognise him whenever he ordered his usual black coffee, he was there that often. For the most part, Erik didn't mind it much, but people recognising him and starting to know him by name had always made him just a little uncomfortable.

After returning the books he'd taken out on his last visit, Erik went in search for some new books to keep him occupied for the week. Finding a book that looked interesting enough to read for more than three minutes was always the hardest part. Most of his time at the library was spent walking up and down the shelves, too.

He didn't usually stray too far from his usual genres, either. He tried it occasionally, but he usually just got bored so it was really a waste of time. Whenever he did find a book that looked appealing though, he always made sure to read the first chapter, or at least the first few pages, before going up to the desk and loaning it out. Taking home a book just to realise by the end of the first chapter that it was the worst thing ever written really wasn't fun.

So, after managing to find two books that piqued his interest enough for him to read the first few pages of, Erik left the shelves behind to head for a comfy lounge. His usual spot was free that morning, which pleased him greatly. It was the perfect little reading spot, as far as Erik was concerned. It was far away from the printers and one little circle of computers, and the children's section was on the complete opposite side of the library so he didn't have to deal with those little gremlins, either. It was peaceful where he sat, in front of the window and just a few feet from where the encyclopaedias were kept. No one really looked at those.

After setting the second book down, Erik put his feet up on the small ottoman that was usually kept under the chair, took a sip of his coffee, and then opened up to the first page of the book he held.

By the eighth page, Erik was already hooked. When he reached the end of the first chapter, he had to stop himself from going on to the next chapter. Very rarely did Erik find a book that drew him in so quickly, and as much as he loved the story of it so far, he wanted to wait to continue reading it. So he set that one aside, and picked up the second book instead. The second one, Erik wasn't too sure of. It was one of those books that was just a little out of his preferred genre. But the cover had looked good, and he was definitely the kind of asshole who judged books by their covers.

When he finished the first chapter of that one, Erik had to decide whether or not to take that one to the front desk to get it out. It hadn't really drawn him in, not like the other one. But it didn't take Erik long to decide to put the book back where he'd found it. ' _Maybe'_  books were always the ones he regretted reading, and Erik felt like the second book was definitely one of those.

So, Erik picked up his coffee and both books, and then went in search of something else to read. He came across one he'd had recommended to him by his previous roommate before he'd moved, so Erik snatched that off the shelf and headed straight for the desk near the entrance. There was just one other person in front of him, so Erik didn't have to wait long to step up to the desk to have the librarian scan the books for him.

It was the same librarian as it always was – at least as far as Erik knew. The glasses wearing, blue-and-black-haired man with the name badge that said ' _Bickslow'_  on it. He was always the one to scan Erik's books, and although Erik had only lived there a few months, he was already getting sick of the guy.

Well, sort of.

He was chatty. And he was always in a good mood. And Erik didn't trust people who were always in good moods. They were usually hiding something.

"These are nice choices," Bickslow said as he scanned the books. "I've read these ones."

Erik merely rolled his eye as he fished his library card out of his wallet. "Is there anything in this library you  _haven't_  read?" he grumbled.

"Oh, plenty of things." He was a picky reader. He'd barely read anything compared to the other librarians there. He scanned the card and then reached for the stamp beside him, opening up each book to stamp the date they were due back. "Anyway, enjoy!" Bickslow grinned, handing the books and the card back to Erik so he could be on his way.

Sometimes Erik had to stifle the urge to turn around and say  _'enjoy this'_  while lifting up his middle finger. But, well… It was a library. He wasn't allowed to be a dick in a library.

* * *

Sometimes, Bickslow liked to people-watch. He understood that most found it strange (or just downright creepy), but for the most part, Bickslow just didn't care. It helped kill the time, and on the weekends, he had a lot of time to kill. There were only so many books to be put away, emails replied to, and online cataloguing that needed to be done each day.

So, he people-watched.

All kinds of people visited the public library. There were the people who got there at exactly 9 a.m. sharp to head to a computer in the study lounge and make themselves comfortable for the day, and there were the teenagers and university students who came in with their bags and arms full of heavy books just begging to be skimmed. There were the groups of old ladies who discussed the book of the week between themselves quietly in the café, and there were the high school girls with their frappuccinos and perfectly done faces who sat in the study rooms taking selfies all day while the books that sat in front of them were actually upside down half the time.

But then there were the people like Erik – the people who actually visited the library to read. They were a rare breed those days, with eBooks and online journals and everything you could ever imagine being just at your fingertips. But people like Erik were the ones that Bickslow watched the most, because they intrigued him the most.

At first, it had the whole eye thing that had intrigued him. Had he just lost sight in his right eye, or was it just an empty socket? Bickslow had wanted to straight up ask him that more than once, but he'd held his tongue.

But then it had been how the man would always take a few books from the shelves, and then go sit down and read a bit of each one. Every time, at least one of the books would go back on the shelf. And, of course, it hadn't take Bickslow very long to figure out just what it was Erik was doing and why he did it – and quite frankly he had to admit it was pretty clever, because no one liked taking a book home that ended up being garbage three chapters in – but it was still a little odd.

And then it had been how if he didn't sit in his usual chair by the window and the encyclopaedias, then he would be visibly uncomfortable, and constantly glancing over to the chair to see if it was free yet. Although as far as that went, Bickslow just suspected that he was a man of habit.

Still, Erik intrigued him. And of all the people to watch on the weekend, the grumpy one-eyed bastard was his favourite.

Besides, it was fucking hilarious to watch him mimic the frappuccino-drinking teenagers behind their backs. Although Bickslow was pretty sure Erik actually had no idea anyone had seen him do that.

* * *

"You know, I'm beginning to notice a trend with you," Bickslow said one day as he scanned Erik's books.

"So have I," Erik grumbled. "You talk too fucking much."

"And you're a grumpy asshole who needs to lighten up."  _Or get laid._  Although Bickslow would probably be willing to help with  _that_  if Erik happened to be interested. He wasn't really sure. "But you don't see me calling you out on that now, do you?"

"…You just did."

Bickslow scowled, handing Erik back his library card. It was just a good thing none of his colleagues were nearby to have heard him. The last thing he needed was one of the ancient ladies he worked with telling him off for calling one of their library guests a grumpy asshole. "Anyway," Bickslow said then, checking the date on the stamp for the return receipt. "I've noticed that you only happen to read crime mysteries, or fantasy."

"Yeah, so?" Erik snapped. "What's wrong with that?" He liked his crime stories and his fantasy novels, thank you very much.

"Nothing is." Hell, fantasy was Bickslow's personal favourite. Especially high fantasy. Just as long as it didn't have some weakly disguised romance plot that really just made no sense. "I'm just making an observation," he said, handing Erik back his newly loaned books. "If you want some recommendations though, I have a few you probably haven't read yet."

"I'll pass."

Bickslow shrugged. "Suit yourself." He didn't care either way. He gave book recommendations all the time to those who actually asked. If Erik didn't want them, then it wasn't a big deal. "Well, enjoy your books then," he said, right as Erik pushed away from the tall desk to return to his favourite chair.

Except that day, Erik couldn't help himself from glancing over his shoulder to where Bickslow was already busy sorting through the stack of returns, scanning each one and moving it aside. Erik wasn't used to people straight up calling him an asshole like that. He wasn't going to deny that he was one, because he knew it was. Still, most people were typically too scared to really say anything like that to his face. But, the librarian didn't seem to be, and for the most part, Erik just didn't really know what to think about that.

But it was as Erik was too busy looking over his shoulder and back to the young librarian that he walked straight into one of the displays, and Bickslow looked up just in time to see the cardboard stand and the stack of autobiographies on the table all topple over.

* * *

It became some kind of ritual in the weeks that followed, for Bickslow to always ask if Erik was still a grumpy asshole, and for Erik to ask if Bickslow was still being a chatty pest – and, both answers were  _yes_. Occasionally, it would even get a smirk out of Erik, and he'd be lying if he said that he didn't look forward to the tiny bit of banter he had with the weekend librarian.

Bickslow was… different, for lack of a better word. He wasn't as strict as the other librarians. And he definitely wasn't afraid of being a sarcastic little shit, either. But, Erik kind of liked that. Bickslow made the library just that little bit more interesting.

But it was one day, not quite six months after Erik had started visiting that library every single Saturday, that it was a little noisier than usual, and it drew Erik's attention. He was used to the occasional bit of noise, mostly from kids running around because they didn't really get the whole 'libraries are peaceful places' thing, or from someone on the computers forgetting to use headphones while they watched the trending videos for that week. But he wasn't used to the noise that was coming from the open office just next to where the information and loan desk was.

There was a party going on. And from where Erik was sitting, he could just make out his favourite librarian through the open door, with a stupid paper hat on and a great big grin on his face as he leant down to blow out the candles on a cake.  _It must be his birthday._ Erik only wondered if he should say happy birthday to him when he went up there to get out his books for that week. He usually wasn't a fan of anything to do with birthdays; his old roommate would've been lucky for him to even acknowledge it as anything but a normal day. But for Bickslow… Erik was almost inclined to try and be just a little nice for once.

It was an odd thought though, so Erik just did his best to ignore it and he went back to reading the first few pages of one of the books he'd selected from the shelves.

The only problem was that it was the fourth book he'd picked up that morning, and it was the fourth book that would no doubt end up back on the shelf. Erik had been having trouble finding books worth reading over the last few weeks. Just the week before, he'd ended up going home with just  _one_  book to keep him occupied, and he'd always gone home with two in the past. But it had gotten so bad that Erik was almost tempted to take the librarian up on his offer to give him book recommendations.

If anything, though, having Bickslow give him some recommendations on what to read would just be an excuse to talk to him. And while Erik usually didn't like talking to people, he could tolerate Bickslow in small doses.

Eventually finding one book worth reading, Erik put the rest back on the shelves and headed over to the desk to get it out. One of the other librarians was at the desk that time. As far as Erik could tell, Bickslow was still busy in the office, no doubt stuffing his face with cake (although really, Erik had no idea). He was almost tempted to sit back down and wait until Bickslow was manning the information desk as he usually did, but Erik didn't really want to make it seem like he'd been waiting for him. Besides, he had groceries and other menial errands to run that afternoon, so he really didn't have the time to sit around and wait for the blue-haired librarian.

Erik stepped up to the desk and handed the older woman his book and library card. She didn't call him a grumpy asshole like Bickslow did, or say anything even remotely rude or snarky. Instead she only asked how his morning was going, but Erik's only response was a quiet grunt. He didn't do that kind of small-talk.

Still, as the woman scanned his book and his card, Erik glanced through to the office next to the information desk and he could've sworn he saw Bickslow walk right past the door. He looked forward again right as the woman stamped the return date and held the book and card back out to him. "There you go!" she said cheerfully.

"Thanks…" Erik mumbled. He'd been about to just walk away and head straight for the exit when he stopped himself and rounded back to the desk. The woman looked up to him expectantly, and Erik bit his tongue before clearing his throat and asking uncomfortably, "What was, uh… All of that noise before? In the office."

The woman smiled at him. "Oh! We were just having a little celebration for one of our librarians. It's his birthday today," she said.

_So it is Bickslow's birthday._ Still, even if Erik did somewhat want to talk to him right then, it was firstly impossible right then, and secondly, he didn't really know what to say anyway, so it was probably a good thing that he was busy. So, he only mumbled another thanks to librarian and went on his way.

* * *

Erik didn't usually visit the library on a Sunday. He usually had the afternoon shift at the pharmacy on Sundays so he liked to spend his morning sleeping in and reading while he had his breakfast (or, lunch, mostly). But that Sunday, he was visiting the library, just because he was hoping to see Bickslow to wish him a belated birthday.

He'd been thinking about it all of the previous afternoon. Most of that time had been spent trying to talk himself out of doing something that was by his standards stupid, but he'd eventually failed and gone down to the gas station to pick up the plainest birthday card he could find. It wasn't like he was going to get Bickslow anything for his birthday, because he still hated birthdays as a whole, and even if he didn't, he didn't know Bickslow well enough to actually buy him anything. But a card… Well, cards were nice to give to people, weren't they?

Honestly, Erik didn't know. He'd only ever received them, never given them.

Still, he hadn't wanted to wait until the next week to give it to Bickslow, so he'd had to do it on the Sunday. He didn't have the time to do it during the week, and he also didn't know if Bickslow worked during the week, either.

When he got there, he didn't see Bickslow at the desk, so Erik only assumed that he was busy somewhere else in the library.  _Maybe he's putting books away._  Either way, Erik wasn't going to go and find him. He considered it a small blessing that he wasn't having to face Bickslow personally, because he was sure he would've gotten all flustered and said something even stupider than he intended, and… Erik didn't want that to happen.

He may not like people, but he also wasn't  _good_  with them, either.

So, he went up to the desk where another one of the little old ladies who worked there sat. Seeing that Erik had no books, she only smiled up at him and asked, "How can I help you, dear?"

"Is, uh… The uh…" And now Erik really was glad that he wasn't actually having to talk to Bickslow himself. He was already making a fool of himself. "Is Bickslow here today?" Erik finally managed to get out, cheeks searing hot as he avoided looking directly at the librarian.

"Oh, he doesn't work here anymore, honey," she said.

Erik finally looked forward. "What? But he was here yesterday. He had some stupid party in the office for his birthday."

The woman nodded. "It was his last day yesterday as well. He's working at the university library now."

"Oh…"

"Was there a message or something you needed me to pass on?"

Honestly, Erik wasn't even sure if there was any point. He just… hadn't really expected Bickslow to ever leave. He'd gotten used to seeing Bickslow there every weekend, and he'd gotten used to the same-old banter they had whenever Erik went to loan a book.

But now that Bickslow wouldn't be there anymore… Erik found himself disappointed. The books and the quiet had always been the best part of visiting the library each weekend, but they had stopped being the only things that Erik looked forward to every time he went there weeks earlier. But Erik didn't want to be disappointed. He shouldn't be disappointed. Bickslow was just… He was just some dumb librarian. He wasn't even remotely close to being  _special_.

Erik only shook his head. This is what he got for being stupid. The one time he tries to be nice and act like a person who cares about other people, and it ends up being a complete and utter waste of time. He only dropped the plain envelope with the card inside it on the desk, muttering, "I wanted to give something to him, but forget it. Just put that in the bin, will ya?"

The woman only looked down to envelope and back to the maroon-haired man as he left, his hands in his pockets as he passed the gates. She couldn't help but wonder what it was that he'd wanted to give Bickslow. She suspected it to be a card, judging by the size of it. But… He'd said to put it in the bin…  _Maybe it wouldn't hurt to mail it to Bickslow anyway…_

* * *

Bickslow reached down to unclip the dogs' leashes once his house was in sight. He unlocked the gate to his yard just so the dogs could get back in, and then he was reaching into his mailbox at the end of the path to see if that week's bills had been delivered yet. He flicked through the pile of letters and junk-mail as he slowly walked up his path towards his door while the dogs ran circles around him, anxious to get back inside to get a drink after their walk.

_Power bill, water bill, junk, junk, junk, gas bill…_  Bickslow stopped once he reached the plain envelope, completely bland except for his address written on the front in a blue pen, and a stamp in the top left corner saying that it was from his old library. He thought it was odd, but then he figured it was probably just his last payslip or something.

Bickslow waited until he was back inside and he'd let the dogs out into the backyard to get a drink before he returned to his mail and the mysterious envelope. He opened it carefully with the letter opener he'd received his first year working at the state library, and pulled out the envelope's contents. He was surprised to find that it was just a plain birthday card, all black except for the  _'HAPPY BIRTHDAY'_  written in white lettering in the centre. It had been nearly a week since his birthday, but he still didn't think much of it and opened up the card to see who it was from.

**_Happy belated birthday._ **

**_You owe me book recommendations._ **

**_Erik._ **

A number was scrawled in the bottom corner of the card, and Bickslow couldn't really help but grin like a fool as he blindly reached out for his phone that he knew to be sitting somewhere on his desk behind him. He'd been just a little sad that he hadn't had a chance to tell his favourite library visitor that he'd been leaving. He'd started to really enjoy seeing Erik every weekend, and when he'd had had the time to go and find Erik on his last day there, the man had already left. He'd almost been tempted just to go and visit the library on the coming Saturday morning just to see him again, but he'd talked himself out of that just because it was pretty damn weird.

Still, now he had his number and an excuse to talk to him, and Bickslow had never dialled a number so quickly.

He almost didn't expect anyone to answer, it had rung so long. But then Erik answered, and Bickslow was still grinning as he said, "Hey, asshole."

And Erik found himself genuinely smiling for once when he recognised the voice.


	3. Unconventional

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a follow-up to this drabble [here](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12431983/23/Fairies-of-Fiore). It's not necessary to have read it, but it will make more sense.

Bickslow had waited until everything had calmed down again before he went to find Cobra. The last time Bickslow had seen him, the rest of Crime Sorcière had been gathering around him and making sure he was fine. At the time, Bickslow had been too preoccupied with making sure Laxus was okay along with the rest of the Raijinshuu, but Cobra had still been in his thoughts.

The sun was just beginning to set by the time Bickslow found him. He'd just been coming out of the makeshift hut Porlyusica had set up with Laki earlier in the evening. There'd been far too many casualties following Acnologia's oversized tantrum. Thankfully, they'd only lost a few people from the guild, but countless other citizens of Magnolia had lost their lives, simply because they'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Porlyusica was just doing what she could to help heal the wounds of those fortunate enough to have not been too gravely injured. Wendy was helping too, of course, but her own injuries had needed to be healed first.

Thick bandages were wrapped tightly around Cobra's middle. Another was wrapped around his forearm and his hand. And his coat… His favourite coat was barely holding itself together. Bickslow knew how much Cobra liked his coat.

"I was about to come find you," Cobra said once he saw the Seith mage. "Wanted to see if you were okay."

Bickslow smiled weakly for a moment. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine." He had a few more scars to add to his growing collection on his body, and he still ached from having half of Kardia Cathedral collapse on top of him, but he was fine. "What about you, though?" he asked. He'd heard bits and pieces of what had happened in the  _Space Between Time_  from Laxus, but not much. "Still in one piece?"

"Mostly," Cobra huffed a laugh. "Acnologia's one hell of a bastard."

"You don't need to tell me that…" Bickslow mumbled. He wrapped an arm gently around Cobra's side then, just so he'd have something to lean his weight on. "But I'm glad you're  _mostly_  in one piece. Now come on, you need to get some rest."

* * *

Cobra hated having people look after him. But right then, he could tolerate Bickslow looking after him. He didn't go overboard or make a point of doing everything for him, which was what Cobra liked best about the situation. Bickslow always made sure to ask if Cobra wanted help with something, instead of assuming, which actually made Cobra more willing to admit that he did need help with certain things – mostly just moving around, or moving from his bed in Bickslow's spare room to the lounge in the living room.

It had been a month since Acnologia's defeat. Fairy Tail was being rebuilt once again, and the town was well on its way to being its former glory. Hargeon was in a better shape too, but Magnolia was where most of the damage had occurred.

"Jellal wants to leave again soon," Cobra said softly that night. He was lying awake in his bed, finally having gotten comfortable amidst the pillows and the warm blanket. Bickslow was leaning against the headboard with a tray on his lap so he didn't get any paint or varnish on the covers – he'd been meaning to touch up the babies' wooden bodies, but he'd been forgetting to.

"Are you going to go?" Bickslow asked.

Cobra gave half a shrug. "Probably." A month was a long time for him to stay in one place. It was a long time for the rest of Crime Sorcière to stay in one place, too. They were almost always moving around. The only reason they'd stayed in Magnolia so long that time was because of him. He'd needed to rest and get his strength back.

Bickslow had expected that answer. And while he usually didn't mind all that much whenever Cobra left again, disappearing for a few more months before they managed to get back into Magnolia, he minded that time. He didn't think Cobra was strong enough to be travelling and dealing with dark guilds again. Not yet. "I don't think you should," he said.

"Huh?"

"I don't think you should leave town just yet."

Cobra narrowed his eye at the man. "You don't get to decide that, Bix."

He shrugged, continuing to fill in one crevice on Poppo's tiki with green paint. "You're right. I don't. But I don't want you getting hurt." That was the last thing Bickslow wanted, because he cared about Cobra. He cared more than he should, considering they weren't really together – they were somewhere between friends and being in some kind of completely unconventional relationship, but that was the way it was.

Still, as far as Bickslow was concerned, Cobra wasn't strong enough to be going and doing what he usually did.

"What makes you think I'll get hurt?" Cobra asked.

"I don't think you  _will_. I'm just worried you  _might_."

"Well, I'm capable of looking after myself without getting hurt, thanks. I don't need your pity."

"Erik, that's not—"

"Just forget it," he snapped. Bickslow winced, and for a moment, Cobra felt guilty. He tried to ignore that though as he just struggled to roll onto his side, turning his back to Bickslow.

It was a clear message, that was for sure. Quietly, Bickslow rose to his feet to leave Cobra alone for the rest of the night. He knew it wasn't worth trying to say anything else.

By the time Bickslow had finally gone to bed himself, Cobra was still awake. It wasn't because he wasn't tired, because he was. It wasn't because he couldn't get comfortable enough to fall asleep either, because he was reasonably comfortable. It was because he was stuck thinking about how he'd snapped at Bickslow earlier.

There was a reason he was there – not just in that bed, but in general. It wasn't because he was healing. Or it was, but that hadn't been the case when Bickslow had offered him that room months earlier. He was there because he trusted Bickslow. Cobra could count on one hand the number of people he trusted completely. One was Macbeth, two was Jellal for some ungodly reason, and three was Bickslow. The rest of Crime Sorcière he trusted to some extent, but not completely. That was the case for all of them though.

Still, Bickslow was different to Macbeth and Jellal. For starters, he was a damn  _Fairy_. At one point, Cobra had been completely disgusted by that. He wasn't so much anymore. Secondly though, their…  _relationship_  was different – although Cobra wasn't really sure he could call it that anyway. Where Macbeth and Jellal are guildmates, Bickslow was just someone who kept him company.

Bickslow was someone who kept him company so he didn't have to be alone. Which, as it turns out, was something Cobra was completely terrified of. He'd spent far too much of his life alone – not completely, but close enough – that he couldn't stand the thought of his life actually ending up that way. Bickslow was really the only person who knew about that, but the only reason he did know that was because he'd found him fucking crying about it in an alley once. That hadn't been a proud moment for Cobra, not in the slightest, but Bickslow had never judged him for it (not as far as Cobra could tell, at least).

All of that had been a year earlier. And at the time, Cobra had never actually intended on taking Bickslow up on his weird offer of having someone else to be alone with if all else fails (he'd also thought the man had been joking, too), but it had been more of an accident that it had actually happened anyway.

He'd for some reason sought Bickslow out the next time he'd been in Magnolia, just a few weeks later, and then it had become some kind of habit to always visit the Seith mage when he was in town. They'd never really done much of anything – they'd drink together sometimes, but they usually just sat around in silence doing nothing. It had been weirdly nice.

Then though, after half a year had gone by, Bickslow had ended up offering his spare room to Cobra, just because he'd wanted to at least know the man had someplace warm and dry to sleep when he was in town.

It was still the closest thing Cobra had ever really had to a home. And it wasn't so much because he had a bed, and that it was warm and dry and he wasn't having to just crash on some park bench somewhere – which was what he'd usually done when he'd been dragged into town with the rest of the Sorcière. But it was because of Bickslow, too. Bickslow had become his home just as much as the apartment had. And Cobra didn't really like admitting that, not even to himself, but sometimes he felt like he needed to.

Cobra groaned as he pulled himself out of bed. So he would  _maybe_  admit that Bickslow had been onto something about him not being quite ready to leave town and travel again – even if Bickslow hadn't  _said_  it, Cobra had still heard it. He didn't bother being gentle as he opened up Bickslow's bedroom door, and he didn't bother closing it again before he headed straight for the bed in the centre of the room.

Bickslow rubbed tiredly at his eyes as he switched the lamp beside him on. "Cobra? What do you—"

"Just be quiet," Cobra grumbled as he pushed back the covers to climb into the bed. "And turn the light off." It was bright and annoying.

Bickslow obliged and reached back behind himself to turn it off. He felt the mattress shift as Cobra seemingly made himself comfortable. They'd sat up together before, but they'd never really  _slept_  together, so Bickslow was more than a little confused. Even more confusing to Bickslow was the fact that Cobra had been mad at him before, and whenever that happened, Cobra usually kept to himself for a little while until he left town again.

Cobra knew all too well how confused Bickslow was though. It was the loudest thing in the room, at least to him. Cobra wasn't exactly surprised Bickslow just wanted to know what the fuck was going on, either. It wasn't like he had a solid plan for right then. He just felt shitty and wanted to say something about it.

"I'm… sorry for being a dick," he mumbled eventually. Apologising for anything wasn't in his nature, so he found it difficult for the most part.

"Cob, you're kind of always a dick. You're going to have to be a little more specific."

He'd give Bickslow that one, just because it was true. "Before, I mean," Cobra said. "I… I guess I know you meant well and all, but I was an ass about it, and… And I'm… sorry."

Bickslow shrugged a little. "Don't worry about it. I didn't take it personally." He'd gotten to know Cobra pretty well over the last year. He would've been stupid to actually get offended by Cobra snapping at him.

"Don't do that," Cobra muttered.

"Do what?"

"Act like it means fuck all."

"What do you mean?" Bickslow asked. He wished he could turn the light back on so he could actually see Cobra. Being able to tell if the man was glaring at him (or, in his direction, more likely) would probably be helpful, because he didn't really know what Cobra was talking about.

"I'm tryin' to apologise for once here, and you're being a jerk about it." It made him feel stupider than he already did.

"Oh." Bickslow hadn't really seen that coming, but he could tell that, for some reason, apologising was important to Cobra right then. "Sorry. I'm not trying to be."

Cobra let out a sigh as he turned his face into the pillow – he was inclined to think Bickslow's bed was more comfortable than the one in the other room. "I know you're not. But… I'm still sorry for being a dick."

"Apology accepted then."

He could still tell that Bickslow wasn't completely serious about it, but it was good enough for Cobra right then. "I'm just… not really used to having people who care about me, I guess…" Cobra admitted. Macbeth did, probably, but that was different. Macbeth did because they'd known each other for far too long. But Bickslow cared because he could. He cared about him for the sake of it, and Cobra just really wasn't used to that.

He liked that, though. He liked knowing that he actually meant something to someone. And that was part of why Cobra could even admit anything to Bickslow – because he knew he genuinely cared for some bizarre reason, and Cobra was comfortable around him.

"W-Well, I mean… I won't say that I  _don't_  care… about you…" Bickslow quickly mumbled, embarrassment turning his cheeks red. They'd never really talked about that, not that there was much to talk about. But he still didn't really want Cobra getting the wrong idea or anything, because as much as he cared about him, Bickslow wasn't exactly  _into_  the guy. He wasn't into anyone at all, in any way, really. "I'm just… Not really… You know… Um…"

"Relax, I know what you mean." Even if Cobra hadn't known how Bickslow did actually feel about him, he would've quickly figured it out then from Bickslow's soul. And it wasn't like Bickslow had ever needed to say that he cares, because Cobra had always heard it. It was part of why he'd stuck around at all. He wouldn't have bothered if Bickslow hadn't actually given a shit about him. "But… I, um… I'm not good with shit like this…" Cobra continued softly. The words actually coming out of his mouth and floating around his head almost made him want to be sick, but he mostly ignored it. There was a time and a place for being vulnerable, as far as Cobra was concerned, and that was right there and right then. He felt like he needed to be. "I guess I'm just trying to say thank you now."

"For what?"

"For giving a shit about me."

Bickslow almost wanted to say that it wasn't something Cobra needed to thank him for. Tt wasn't like caring was a burden or anything; he did it by choice, and at that point, he couldn't stop himself even if he tried. But he didn't think Cobra would appreciate that. It wasn't lost on Bickslow that Cobra was uncomfortable, and it also didn't surprise Bickslow that he was at all. And the last thing he wanted to do right then was make Cobra feel even worse.

"Well, you're welcome," Bickslow said. "Although, really… It's not like it's a problem or anything. I enjoy it, you know." And, when he was convinced Cobra was on the verge of scoffing at him or telling him to shut the fuck up, he continued, "I like you. I like you being here. Actually giving a shit about you is just natural for me."

Cobra felt his cheeks heat up at the admission. That… That was not what he'd expected to hear, although he sensed the slight discomfort that Bickslow felt about it as well. Granted, the information wasn't exactly new, but it was the first time he'd ever actually heard it out loud, and he felt almost disgustingly warm and happy. Cobra wasn't too sure what to make of that feeling.

"W-Well, uh… Thanks…" he mumbled.

Bickslow couldn't help but snicker quietly. "Any time." After that, he completely expected Cobra to get back up and return to his own bed in the next room, but after a few minutes of silence, Bickslow became all too aware of the fact that Cobra was still, in fact, lying next to him in his bed. And they didn't do that. He blinked in the darkness, brow creasing as he looked towards Cobra. "Are you, uh… staying here tonight or something?"

Cobra groaned and he shifted.  _Damn it._  He'd almost been hoping that Bickslow would just ignore it. For a short moment, he'd thought the man had forgotten it when he'd heard him getting ready to actually try and get some sleep. But now he'd gone and asked if he was staying, and Cobra was beginning to think it was just one hell of a night for feeling embarrassed. "Your bed is more comfortable."

Bickslow knew it to be true. The mattress in the spare room had been a cheap one that his landlord always provided to new tenants. He just hadn't been able to get rid of it, so he'd stuck it in the second bedroom and then it had become Cobra's when he'd sort of moved in. Bickslow had already offered to buy a nicer one and just find a place to put the other one, but Cobra had always said that it was fine.

He was a filthy liar though. Bickslow knew that, too.

Honestly though, if Cobra didn't want to move, Bickslow didn't care much. It was ten kinds of weird, but he told himself that it would probably be worth it just to let Cobra stay if he was comfortable. He might get a better night sleep if he was actually comfortable.

"Well, stay here then," Bickslow said with a sigh, rolling onto his other side to get himself comfortable, his back now towards Cobra. "Just don't fucking snore."

"Oh, fuck off. You're the one who snores. Not me."

"I do not, thank you very much!"

"You do so. Well, sometimes. I can fucking hear you."

…Okay, so maybe, his team had already told him he did occasionally snore. But it was only when he was dead tired, which was usually only when he got back from a job and just wanted to sleep on something other than the ground.

Still, it wasn't like he did it intentionally. And it was his bed and his apartment anyway. He could snore if he wanted to. Cobra could go and find earplugs. Or go and sleep in his own crappy bed. "Whatever," Bickslow muttered. "Just go to sleep."

Cobra would do just that.

* * *

It was on their way out of a town not too far from Tuly Village that Cobra spotted something in a small shop window. He stopped in his tracks to get a better look at the small totem decorations sitting on a shelf. There were three of them, each of them with different animals and faces carved into them. Cobra wouldn't even tell what most of them were supposed to be.

"What are you looking at?" Macbeth asked once he realised Cobra had stopped to stare at the shop window.

"The… totem pole… things."

"Hmm? What for?"

Cobra hesitated for a moment before answering, "They remind me of Bix. Well, the babies, I guess." The tallest of the miniature posts had some kind of bird at the top with painted white and red wings, and it reminded him of the wooden dolls that Bickslow housed his babies in.

"The babies? What are you talking about?" Macbeth asked.

Cobra sighed and waved his hand around in the air quickly, somehow mimicking the twirling and hovering that the babies always did. "Those little flying fuckers that follow the guy everywhere."

"Ah. I see." Macbeth admittedly had only seen Bickslow a handful of times, but he vaguely knew of the flying dolls that were known to follow him around. Regardless though, Cobra didn't have the time to just stand there staring at a few pieces of painted wood. Macbeth, and the rest of Crime Sorcière for that matter, didn't have the time to wait for him, either. "Well, I'm sure they're great," Macbeth said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster – which was very little, as usual. "But Jellal still wanted to get to Tuly Village before it got too dark, so we have to leave."

The rest of the guild had already gone up ahead, so they wouldn't have noticed that they were gone. Even then, Cobra usually hung back so he didn't have to put up with Meredy and Sorano, and Macbeth usually stuck with him. The only reason they didn't get lost was because Cobra could still hear them, and when on straight paths, he could see them, too. Still, Cobra's hearing had a limit, and Macbeth wasn't interested in getting left behind with the Dragon Slayer.

"Fuck Jellal," Cobra said. Right then, catching back up with everyone else was the last thing on his mind. Instead, all he was thinking about was buying the mini totem poles for Bickslow. His birthday was coming up in a few more weeks, and while Cobra usually didn't give a shit about buying things for people, or even celebrating birthdays or holidays, he felt like doing something nice for Bickslow.

Even then, Cobra knew why Bickslow had the babies in the dolls they were in. Bickslow had told him once that it was because the babies had been his first family outside of the small village he'd grown up in as a child, and he'd wanted to pay tribute to where he'd come from. He'd told Cobra all about the tall, intricately carved pillars that were scattered around the village, and how each one had a special meaning and no two were the exact same. Some of them even told of legends long before their time. Apparently Bickslow had grown up to stop really believing in any of them, but it had still been his culture at one point in his life and Cobra had found it interesting.

But knowing all of that, Cobra felt like Bickslow would actually like the mini carvings. He had no idea what each animal and face on them meant, or if they meant anything at all, but that wasn't so important to Cobra at that exact moment.

Macbeth didn't even get the chance to ask where Cobra was going when he quickly moved and headed into the small store, the bell on the door ringing as it swung closed.

* * *

Sorano watched Cobra carefully where he sat on the other side of the fire, doing his best to read the tattered, old book in the limited light. Once night came, Cobra usually only hung around the fire when they were eating. After that, he usually just went and sat against a tree somewhere and kept to himself until dawn. That night though, Cobra seemed quite content reading his book in silence – or trying to, at least, if the confused faces he made every few seconds were anything to go by.

Patting Sawyer's knee beside her, Sorano softly told him she was just going to go talk to Cobra for a minute, and got up to walk around the fire to sit down next to the Dragon Slayer. There was plenty of room around the fire that night – Jellal and Meredy had gone off in the same direction ten minutes apart in an attempt to be subtle, Macbeth was already sleeping peacefully just off in the shadows, and Richard was fishing by the small stream not too far from where they'd settled for the night, just on the outskirts of Tuly Village.

Cobra didn't pay much attention to the woman peering over his shoulder, and instead just continued to read. Sorano couldn't really see much on the yellowed pages, but there was a sketch of what looked to be an eagle in one corner, and Sorano could just make out a bolded heading with 'symbolism' in it. "What are you reading?" she decided to ask.

"None of your business," Cobra snapped. The actual answer was that he was reading a book on tribe symbolism within Fiore. The shopkeeper had given it to him for a few extra jewels when he'd bought the small pillars. Some of it he recognised from what Bickslow had already told him about it, like how most of the time, the figures carved on the posts weren't actually seen as gods to worship like a lot of people thought, but most of it was all new to Cobra, and he actually found it interesting – so interesting that he was actually trying to read despite having some trouble with certain parts, and was putting up with how much his eye was hurting from doing so.

The chapter he was reading right then though, was all to do with what each type of animal and face meant. At least as far as Fiore went.

Still, Cobra didn't think Sorano needed to know that. It wasn't any of her concern what he was doing, so she could fuck off and mind her own business as far as Cobra was concerned.

Cobra telling her it wasn't any of her business didn't bother Sorano though. That was relatively tame, coming from him. She set her hands on her knees as she looked around for a moment, first to Sawyer who only tilted his head at her, and then to the dark wooden box that sat behind Cobra. She'd seen Cobra carrying it once he and Macbeth had caught up with them. She didn't know what it was, but he hadn't let it out of his sights since they'd settled down for the night and Sorano was curious.

She quickly reached for it, asking aloud, "What's in here?"

Cobra spun around to pull it from Sorano's hands so quickly that she almost jumped. "Don't fucking touch that!"

"Watch it, Cobra," Sawyer warned from the opposite side of the fire.

Sorano shook her head as she recoiled. "It's fine," she whispered. Sawyer worried about her more than he really needed to. While it was nice sometimes (he was her husband, after all), it was just unnecessary, especially when it came to Cobra. Sorano could deal with Cobra on her own just fine. "Sorry… I just wanted to see what it was…"

"Well, don't."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not yours."

"Well, is it yours then?" Sorano asked. She assumed it was just because of how protective he was of it, but it wasn't like Cobra was known for having many belongings, either. That was the same for all of them, though, simply because they were almost always on the move from fear of being sent back to prison. It was just fortunate that Magnolia seemed to be ignored by the council those days. Still, when Cobra remained silent, Sorano raised an eyebrow and proceeded cautiously, "So it's Bickslow's?" It was just a guess, but she figured it was a good guess.

It was his birthday present, so it was kind of Bickslow's. At the very least, it was for Bickslow. Cobra wasn't so comfortable admitting that, though. He just had a feeling it would be the only way to get Sorano off his back – or so he hoped. "It's for his birthday," Cobra eventually admitted quietly, holding the padded wooden box over his knees.

Cobra didn't buy birthday presents for anyone. Sorano knew that as well as the rest of their merry little band of felons did. Still, Sorano also knew that Bickslow wasn't just a normal friend to Cobra. Sorano wasn't even sure they were  _just_  friends, either, but she'd been curious about it for the last eighteen months.

The problem was that she knew she couldn't really ask Cobra about Fairy Tail's Seith mage. He didn't like talking about himself, and asking about Bickslow would require him to do that.

Cobra knew what Sorano was thinking about, though. He could hear her apprehension about broaching a certain topic, and right then, Cobra just didn't have the energy to deal with it. "Oh, just fucking spit it out already," he groaned then, rolling his eye as he picked his book back up and dusted the dirt off it.

The thing about Sorano was that she wasn't good at just dropping things. She had to pry. It was in her nature.

"I just… I know you care about him," she began carefully, all too aware of Sawyer still watching and listening from the other side of the campfire. "And I know that you two aren't really just…  _friends_ …"

"It's none of your damn concern what we are, Angel," Cobra snapped.

She winced. It had been a long time since anyone had called her that. "I know it isn't. But you're my family and—"

"I'm not your family. You have a sister. And a husband.  _They're_  your family."

"You're my family as well," she insisted quietly. Yukino and Sawyer were her family, sure, but so was Cobra. So was Jellal, and Meredy, and Macbeth, and Richard. They were all her family. Sorano didn't really care how they saw things; that was the way  _she_  saw it. "And as much as you say it isn't my concern what you and… You and  _Bickslow_  are… I'm still worried about you."

"What the fuck for?"

Sorano gave a small shrug. "I just don't want you getting hurt or anything."

Cobra was beginning to get sick of people worrying about him getting hurt. Physically? Well, it was tolerable when it was Bickslow doing the worrying. But when people were worrying about his  _precious, fragile heart_  or some shit breaking, he just couldn't deal with it. He was more than capable of watching out for himself. He'd done it his whole life. And as far as anything with Bickslow went, Cobra really didn't need people interfering. It had nothing to do with them.

"Well, I'm fine," he muttered. "I don't need you worrying. I don't  _want_  you doing it either."

He got up from where he sat on his log, ready to go find Macbeth and annoy him a little, when Sorano quickly added, "And I don't want you missing out on anything."

Cobra turned back around, eye narrowing as he stared to the white-haired woman in front of the fire.  _Missing out on anything?_  Was she really going there? "Seriously? You don't want me  _missing out on anything_?"

"W-Well, I just mean… You're not even in a proper relationship, so it's not really like you two will ever get married or anything. It all kind of seems like a waste of time if you're not even really together anyway…" Sorano mumbled, looking away ashamedly. "And it's not like you'll ever have kids either, not unless you manage to adopt which I doubt you'll do because you'll still be avoiding being in a proper relationship, so…"

It was the first time anyone had ever actually said to his face something like that. Cobra had always been aware that not everyone accepted the way he was with Bickslow, or even came close to understanding it. He knew that Bickslow had dealt with the occasional comment from the guild and his team over the last year and a half too, but he'd mostly just brushed them off because it wasn't really the first time he'd had to deal with people pushing their noses into places they didn't belong. Still, it was the first time Cobra had ever experienced it, at least verbally – oh, he'd heard their souls plenty of times – and right then, Cobra could only think that Bickslow was a far better person than he was. It wasn't like it was a new thought, but after hearing it, Cobra wasn't sure how Bickslow hadn't fucking hit half of the people who'd decided they had a say in his life.

But, Cobra wasn't going to yell. He wasn't going to shout at Sorano. He understood it – that most people saw what he had with Bickslow as weird as all hell, or even just a waste of time. He was going to be calm, because at the end of the day, he didn't really owe anyone any answers or explanations. It was his life, which meant he got to choose what he did in it. Until his unconventional relationship started affecting other people, Cobra was just going to do his best to remember that not everyone has the same view on things.

Not everyone can just easily accept something that isn't strictly  _normal_  and move on with their life either, it seemed.

So instead, Cobra just tucked the box with the decorative posts nestled inside under his arm, and said, "Did you ever stop to consider that not everyone wants those things?"

* * *

Cobra wasn't sure he'd ever gone back to Magnolia to see Bickslow for a few days just to find out that the Seith mage wasn't even in town. He'd made it back to Magnolia just in time for Bickslow's birthday, something the rest of Crime Sorcière hadn't been all that pleased about since it had been a long journey from the northern tip of Fiore, but much to Cobra's surprise, Bickslow wasn't even there.

He was a little disappointed, because he'd been looking forward to showing Bickslow his present, but for the most part, Cobra just hadn't thought much of it. Bickslow was a guild mage, and he survived by taking jobs. So when Cobra got back to Bickslow's apartment to find it empty, he merely found something to do to entertain himself until Bickslow got back into town with what Cobra assumed to be his team and Laxus.

Except after two days, Bickslow's birthday passed, and after another three weeks, there was still no sign of Bickslow in Magnolia at all. Cobra couldn't help but get a little worried at that point. He even managed to convince Meredy to go and ask that water witch if anyone knew when the Raijinshuu would be getting back. That was when Cobra had found out that no one had heard from them in nearly three months, and while they occasionally went out on longer jobs, they were never really gone for that long. Even if they were planning on being gone for a month or two, they'd gotten into the habit of checking in after a little while just to stop Mirajane from worrying about them all going missing.

Still, that hadn't happened that time. And while Cobra tried to tell himself that it was fine and that Bickslow and his friends  _weren't_  hurt, he still worried. He worried a lot.

But to make things worse, his team started getting on his back about leaving again. They weren't comfortable being in the same place for long, not even in Magnolia. And while Cobra understood that, he just couldn't leave that time.

"We really do need to leave soon," Jellal had said.

"I'm pretty sure I saw a Rune Knight talking to Fairy Tail's master," Meredy had added.

"Just leave him a note or something so he can open his present when he gets back," Macbeth had offered. "It saves you carrying it around."

But still, Cobra just hadn't cared for any of it. He'd just wanted to wait. He ended up telling the rest of them to leave if they were so set on getting the fuck out of there, but none of them had.

After a full three months away from home though, Bickslow finally arrived with his weary and exhausted team. They all went their separate ways and headed off to their respective homes as soon as they'd gotten off the train. Bickslow couldn't wait to jump into his shower and then climb into bed. He'd already pulled his visor off by the time he reached his apartment door, and he barely had it closed behind himself once inside before someone was throwing their arms around him.

"Jesus fucking Christ! What the—" He stopped himself when he realised who it was that was borderline strangling him, and calmed down quickly. He was just a little confused as to why Cobra was in his apartment and hugging him so tightly, but Bickslow could find out the answers to those questions later. "Well, it's good to see you too," he laughed quietly, just managing to kick the door the rest of the way shut with his foot. "You mind letting go of me now though?"

Cobra did so quickly. There was a warmth on his cheeks that he wasn't quite fond of as he stepped back. He wasn't quite sure what had really come over him then, but when he'd realised that it was Bickslow letting himself into the apartment, he just hadn't been able to help himself.

He'd missed Bickslow, he really had. And actually seeing him then only made Cobra realise just how much he'd needed Bickslow to come back. He'd reached the point where he just didn't know what he'd do without the moronic Seith mage, and that… That was a thought that almost frightened Cobra.

As Bickslow headed towards his bedroom, Cobra panicked for a moment. So he'd slept in there once or twice (or most of the last week), and it was going to be obvious considering he'd left it unmade from when he'd gotten out of bed just a few hours earlier. He followed Bickslow to hover by the doorway, only glancing to the Seith mage when he sat down on the edge and reached down to begin pulling off his boots. "I, um… I slept in here for a few nights…" Cobra admitted. "It was just more comfortable… Sorry, I guess…"

Bickslow shrugged as he looked back up, just a hint of a smile on his lips. "I don't mind."

"Right…"  _Of course he doesn't mind_. But still, there was a difference between Cobra sleeping in there when Bickslow was gone, and Cobra leaving his own bed in the middle of the night just to go and sleep next to him. While the latter had become more frequent in the two times Cobra had visited since he'd had Bickslow look after him after fighting Acnologia, Cobra had still felt the need to apologise for it.

Bickslow had managed to rid himself of his boots and most of his clothes by the time he stood again. As soon as he stood and made for the door just so he could finally get to his shower, Cobra asked softly, "Where the hell were you?" He'd wanted to shout it at him, but it had barely been above a whisper and Cobra hated how desperate it made him sound.

He was better than that.

"What do you mean?" Bickslow responded. "I was with my team on a job."

"For three months?" Cobra knew that he didn't really get to complain about how long Bickslow was gone though, partly because he'd only been there for a few weeks, and partly because he was usually gone for months at a time.

Bickslow frowned though. Cobra shouldn't have known how long he'd been gone. "How long were you here?"

"Just a few weeks. I had Meredy ask that water witch—"

"Juvia?"

"Yeah, that one—how long you'd been gone," he finished. "That was last week, I suppose…"

"Right…"

Cobra shuffled on his feet awkwardly. He knew Bickslow didn't care that he'd been staying there on his own for the last few weeks, so he knew the sudden silence wasn't about that. Cobra could hear the confusion as Bickslow tried to figure out why he'd even been there for the last few weeks, though, and while he wasn't fond of giving Bickslow that answer, he still knew he had to. Part of him  _wanted_  to as well.

"I was fucking worried, okay…"

Bickslow had guessed it was something along those lines, but Cobra actually saying it just made him feel guilty. It had to have been bad for him to even bother staying as long as he had. And while Bickslow hadn't even meant to be gone for three whole months, right then, he was wishing it hadn't been so long. Cobra wouldn't have worried then.

Stepping forward again, Bickslow gently took Cobra's face between his hands and then took a chance by pressing a soft kiss to the other's lips. It wasn't like  _he_  got anything from kissing Cobra, but it meant more to Cobra than it did him and Bickslow knew that. And not giving Cobra a chance to splutter and flail about wondering just what the fuck Bickslow had just done, he whispered, "I'm sorry for making you worry. When I get out of the shower, I'll tell you why I was gone for so long, alright?"

Cobra only gave a small nod, and stepped out of the way.

* * *

Turns out, there was a pretty good reason for Bickslow being gone for three months. A misunderstanding had gotten him and his team locked up for sixty days, and then they'd had to take care of the job they'd actually been paid to do, which as it turns out, had been to get rid of the same mayor who'd put them in jail at all. The town had supposedly gotten tired of having a corrupt government, so they'd taken it into their own hands. Sort of.

Cobra hadn't really meant to laugh when he'd heard that Bickslow had been stuck in a cell for two months, but it had been funny and he hadn't been able to help himself. He'd supposed it was to do with how he knew all too well what being locked up felt like, although from what Cobra could tell, Bickslow's cell had been far nicer than his had ever been.

After eating dinner together and finishing explaining just where the fuck he'd been, Bickslow set his empty bowl down out of the way and turned to Cobra beside him to finally ask, "So why were you even here? Why did you visit at all, I mean." Of all the things they could be talking about then, that was just what intrigued Bickslow the most, and he'd seen no better time to ask. And sure, Cobra could very well have just visited for the sake of it, but that usually didn't happen very often. Bickslow never minded, though.

Cobra shrugged. "I knew your birthday was coming up, and I thought you'd maybe want to do something," he admitted. "I got you something, too."

"You didn't need to do that."

"I know, but… I wanted to." He got up from the lounge then to go in search of the wooden box with the small poles in it. Finding it in his room, Cobra returned a few moments later to sit back down on the lounge so the box could sit across Bickslow's lap.

"Is this for me?"

"Well, yeah… I wouldn't have given it to you otherwise…" Cobra mumbled. He watched as Bickslow when carefully undid the brass latches at each end of the wooden box, and began to slowly lift the lid. Bickslow's grin was nearly infectious when he saw what was laid neatly in the foam-lined box. "I saw these on my way through some town, and I just… I remembered all that shit you told me about where you grew up and all the different meanings… And then I thought of the babies and these things reminded me of you, and… I thought you might… want them…"

Bickslow turned to face the Dragon Slayer with a wide grin, lifting up the tallest of the three decorative posts to admire the tiny etchings. "Erik, these are super great. Honestly. I love them. Thank you." He could tell they were handmade from the details on them, and the chipped paint on the faces wasn't bold or obnoxious like some companies made them. Even knowing that it hadn't been Cobra who had made them, Bickslow still appreciated the gift a great deal. It was probably the most thoughtful gift he'd ever received. "I think this one is my favourite of them though," he said, holding up another one of the carved pieces – a simple one with just a dragonfly at the top and a winding pattern carved at the bottom. "Did you know the dragonfly is supposed to represent joy—"

"And adaptability, and a connection to nature spirits and fairies."

"Oh?"

"…The shopkeeper gave me a book on all the meanings when I bought them…" Cobra mumbled. Once he'd read through the entire chapter on all the different animal meanings, he'd thought the small posts were even more perfect. Some of the carvings were more Bickslow than others, as far as Cobra was concerned – like the fox, for its agility and its quick-wittedness; or the crow for its energy and its spiritual strength; and even the not-so innocent coyote for its tricks and its skilfulness.

And Bickslow liking them just meant Cobra didn't feel quite so stupid about buying it at all.

Setting the pole into its box again, Bickslow slid the box off his lap and onto the coffee table and then wrapped his arms around Cobra's shoulders. "You're a good person, Erik," he said softly. "I know you don't think so, but I think you are." He still managed to surprise him sometimes, and while Cobra was still very much the same person he had been nearly two years early, he'd grown a lot in that time and Bickslow didn't even know if Cobra was aware of that himself.

It didn't really matter much, Bickslow realised. But at the end of the day, Bickslow was just glad Cobra had decided to trust him that one time and let him in. Bickslow liked to think Cobra was better off for it.

When Bickslow pulled back, Cobra gave a small nod. That wasn't really something he could respond to. Still, while Cobra didn't mind Bickslow hugging him, it just made him all the more aware of the fact that Bickslow had, in fact, kissed him not that much earlier, and that was something they probably needed to talk about.

"So, uh… Are we going to talk about the thing… Where you, uh…"

"Where I kissed you?" Bickslow finished for him. He'd been expecting that to come up at some point, so it really wasn't surprising that Cobra was mentioning it. He shrugged a little as he crossed his feet under him on the cushions. "Sorry for that, I guess. I just wanted to do it."

Strangely enough, Cobra didn't actually want Bickslow to  _apologise_  for it. It wasn't like it had been  _bad_ … He just hadn't really expected it, because that kind of thing… It wasn't what they did. "No, don't say sorry," Cobra mumbled. "I just… I just don't really get why you'd even want to."

"Dude, come on, you know I like you."

"I know that." And Cobra liked Bickslow too, which was pretty much why he hadn't actually hated the fact Bickslow had kissed him. "But, I mean, you… You're not really  _into_  people. You don't like people that way."

"And you're not into guys, yet you're still here," Bickslow pointed out.

"But that's… different."

"Not really. I mean, you have no interest in fucking me, and I have no interest in fucking you either. The reasons aren't really important. That doesn't mean we don't  _like_  each other, though. It just means that what we have isn't sexual, and it isn't strictly romantic either." Bickslow had long since passed the point of denying that he and Cobra were anything at all. It felt like a waste of time pretending that it didn't exist, because the way  _he_  saw it, it did exist.  _They_  existed.

And the fact that it wasn't really normal by everyone else's standards didn't really bother Bickslow much. He'd heard it all before anyway – that he'd find the right person and fall in love with them, or that he'd eventually have supposed mind-blowing sex with someone and a million other things. But really, Bickslow just didn't care about any of it. He was used to people not quite understanding certain things about him, and for the most part, he'd stopped wanting to actually explain it to anyone, simply because it wasn't really important.

He was who he was, and he was just someone who could easily live his life not caring what everyone else thought of it.

Still, the fact that he wasn't actually attracted to Cobra in any way didn't stop Bickslow from actually caring about him. It didn't really stop Bickslow from loving him, either – because he did. It just wasn't exactly romantic, and he doubted it ever would be. So when he kissed Cobra, it wasn't because he was into him. It was because Cobra was someone he cared about a hell of a fucking lot, and really, Bickslow had just wanted to the kiss the guy.

Cobra could see Bickslow's point after thinking about it for a few moments. He wasn't into guys, but he was still there. And he really wasn't all that interested in sleeping with Bickslow, but he still liked him. He'd learnt a lot about relationships since becoming close to Bickslow, and Cobra could see that Bickslow was right. It didn't really matter all that much who they wanted to fuck or not fuck, because at the end of the day, they were still together in some sense – it just wasn't in the way that the rest of the world expected them to be.

But Cobra was realising that he actually preferred it that way. And with Bickslow, all it had ever been about was not being alone. He'd stopped really caring about whether or not it made sense, because it still kind of worked. Or at least that was what Cobra thought.

"I guess so…" he mumbled. "I just still didn't really expect you to actually  _want_  to really… do anything."

"Well, I did." The corner of Bickslow's mouth pulled up into a tiny smirk as he watched Cobra for a moment. "The question is whether or not  _you_  want me to do it again."

"I… Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I don't know," Cobra admitted. It wasn't like it had been bad, but… He didn't really know if it had been good, either. He didn't know if he'd even  _liked_  it. Cobra wanted to know, though, and that alone made him uncomfortable as all hell.

Cobra didn't really like not knowing things though. In certain cases, he could easily just brush things off, mostly when they did interest him. But with Bickslow, he couldn't do that. He'd read that the cobra was supposed to mean swiftness and decisiveness anyway, and the snake symbolised impulsiveness. Cobra could be decisive. He could impulsive, too. And there was probably no better way to find out what they were both comfortable with, than by testing the boundaries.

"Just… hold still for a sec," Cobra told Bickslow then, the Seith mage raising an eyebrow at him in response. Ignoring it (and multiple other things), Cobra shifted on the lounge and stared at Bickslow for just a moment, before finally leaning towards him and pressing their lips together. He held them there unmoving, although he could feel Bickslow's lips twitching as he no doubt tried to stop himself laughing out loud. Cobra pulled away quickly then, but didn't sit back down properly and stayed facing Bickslow.

"So?"

"I don't know."

Bickslow couldn't help but chuckle quietly then, rolling his eyes slightly as he did. Cobra's scowl didn't go unnoticed. "Well, was it good or so horribly  _bad_  that you can't stand to ever do it again?" Bickslow asked.

"It wasn't…  _bad_ …" Cobra mumbled. It still hadn't been bad, but not inherently good, either – not that there was anything good about having a kiss so awkward that he'd still been staring Bickslow in the eyes when he'd done it. Still, he hadn't hated it. And as weird as it had been… "It was kind of… nice," he admitted quietly.

"Good." Bickslow sat forward then, and lifted his hand to rest gently against Cobra's cheek before kissing him properly. It wasn't like he was against that kind of affection – it was more that he just didn't really feel the need to ever do it. Still, Bickslow liked to think it would be fine with Cobra, even if it didn't end up being something that they ever really did.

And by the time Bickslow pulled away after letting his lips brush over Cobra's once more, Cobra found himself realising that he might just get used to being able to do that Bickslow every once in a while.

* * *

When Cobra and the rest of the Crime Sorcière had been pardoned for all their crimes, it took a while for it to completely sink in. They'd spent so long constantly needing to move around and look over their shoulders that when they'd been given the opportunity to be free, none of them had known what to do with themselves. They'd always expected to just live their life in constant fear of having someone recognise them, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time and then living the rest of their days in a cell again.

Still, for the most part, Cobra hadn't expected anything to change, even after they'd all been pardoned. They all still had sins to atone for, and there was always going to be dark guilds to take down – it was like every time they did manage to wipe one out, another three popped up.

But then Sawyer and Sorano had decided that they wanted to take the opportunity while it was there to actually settle down and start a family of their own. It wasn't like no one had seen it coming, but it had made things complicated when seven became five, and five soon became four when Richard announced he wanted to go and spend some more time with his brother. Jellal had always said that he wasn't forcing anyone to follow him on the path to redemption, but when everyone had started leaving to go and live their lives, Cobra had only wished Jellal  _had_  been forcing them to stay.

Bickslow had been happy for Cobra, but he hadn't been able to show it much when he'd remembered what Cobra was afraid of the most, and why they'd even come to be together at all. It was because he was scared of ending up completely alone in the world. And while Cobra didn't really have to worry about it those days, Bickslow still knew that there was a part of him that was still terrified of it.

So when Cobra had been staying in Magnolia for a few weeks again not long after he'd been pardoned, and climbed into his bed in the middle of the night without a single word, Bickslow didn't question it. He didn't question it when Cobra did it the night after that, and again the night after that. Cobra had just wanted to remind himself that there was still one person who would stand by his side at the end of the world. Even if Bickslow  _hadn't_  known why Cobra had done it, it wasn't like Bickslow cared much about it. Sleeping in the same bed was fine.

There came a time though, not long after Sorano shared the news that she was finally pregnant just a few months other she and Sawyer had found jobs and a home close to the Sabertooth guild building, that Bickslow began to worry about Cobra once again. He'd stuck around for nearly three full months by that point, and while Bickslow really did love him being there, he knew it wasn't for a good reason.

With everyone around him moving on with their lives, Cobra was once again afraid that he was going to be left behind and left alone. Bickslow hated that.

So that was how he came to be getting home late one night after the guild had gone to celebrate Lucy getting an award for her novel, and heading straight for Cobra's room instead of his own.

Cobra woke to the man collapsing down heavily onto the side of the bed. "Bix? What the fuck are you doing now?" he groaned, reaching out for the light and wincing once it was on. He wasn't annoyed by Bickslow getting into his bed – it wasn't like Cobra was the only one who liked to change beds in the middle of the night, because Bickslow had been known to do it a few times now and then. It was really just that he'd been asleep until Bickslow had so rudely woken him up, and Cobra didn't like being woken up.

"Do you wanna get married?" Bickslow asked, only a slight slur to his voice that had Cobra rolling his eye and turning his back to the Seith mage with a huff.

"Fuck off with that," Cobra grumbled.

"Is that a no?"

"No, it's not a no!" Well, it kind of was. "It's a fuck off and go to bed."

Bickslow pouted. A  _fuck off_  wasn't convincing enough, and it also wasn't a  _no_ , which meant Bickslow  _couldn't_  go to bed. "That's still not a no," he pointed out. "So, do you wanna?"

Cobra groaned again. Sometimes he still wished he had Cubellious just so he could get her to bite the fucker. That'd get him to shut up. "Go the fuck to sleep. I'm not talking to you when you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk."

"You're drunk."

He shook his head. "Nope! I only had two of those wine thingies. Wait, what are they called? The sparkly ones. Oh! Champagne. That's it. I only had two of those." Granted, he wasn't sober, but he also wasn't drunk. Just a lil' tipsy. Maybe. Still, he was sober enough to be suggesting marriage to Cobra. "I'm not drunk, so you can talk to me."

Cobra feigned the urge to turn around and hit Bickslow when the man nudged his shoulder and Cobra felt him slide forward so he was getting dangerously close to invading his personal space. It wasn't the space that was the issue for Cobra though – he'd stopped really caring about that with Bickslow after they'd drunkenly decided to see if sex was going to be completely off the table for them a few months earlier, and as horrible as it had been the first time, it had still been decent enough for Cobra to decide to sleep with Bickslow twice more. The issue for Cobra right then, though, was that he was tired and wasn't in the mood to be having that conversation with Bickslow right then.

The unfortunate thing was that Cobra was sure Bickslow wouldn't actually leave him alone unless they did, in fact, talk about it. Although where the fuck the idea of getting married had come from, Cobra had no idea.

He rolled back over with a scowl firmly on his face and turned the light back on. It wasn't as harsh that time, at least compared to his mood. "Dude, why the fuck are you even asking me that?" Cobra asked bitterly once he was sitting up in bed.

Bickslow gave a small shrug. "I just thought you'd wanna."

"What on earth made you think that?"

"Well, I mean… I know you're still scared that everyone will leave and that you'll still end up—"

"Alright, now you really can fuck off," Cobra growled. He didn't need Bickslow making him feel even worse for his ridiculous and irrational fears. Bickslow had always been the one person who hadn't judged him for that, and Cobra knew that Bickslow didn't  _completely_  understand it, just because of the way he experienced attraction and relationships and everything else, but he'd understood it enough to empathise with him.

Bickslow sat up quickly and touched Cobra's arm lightly when he went to turn his back on him again. "Wait, Erik, please. I'm sorry," he pleaded. He hadn't meant to hurt Cobra by it. "I didn't mean it like that. Just let me finish. Please." When Cobra only glanced back to him, Bickslow took that as his cue to actually continue, "I know you're still kind of scared of not having anyone, even though you're with me. And, you know, if we got married, then you'd always have me, and you wouldn't have anything to be scared of."

It wasn't like they needed to get married. Bickslow had no intentions of ending their unconventional relationship, and neither did Cobra as far as Bickslow knew. But getting married would prove to Cobra he didn't need to worry. Cobra would still have him to keep him company and even if everyone did move on and get on with their lives, there would still be at least one person who wouldn't leave.

It wouldn't be because they loved each other – though they did, but it wasn't romantic and it wasn't something they ever really said, Cobra much less than Bickslow. If they did get married, it would be nothing more than a promise and a reminder, one that would be far more important to Cobra than to Bickslow.

Even if Bickslow didn't say that it would be a promise, Cobra still heard it. He kind of just felt bad, though. He could see why Bickslow would suggest it, but… He still worried. "But if we got married, then you'd kind of be stuck with me," Cobra pointed out. He almost couldn't believe he was actually going along with it.

"Well, for starters, there's this little thing called  _divorce_. But do you really think being stuck with you is a bad thing?"

"Could be, depending on what you want."

"What I want?" Bickslow sat up on an elbow and watched Cobra for a moment. He couldn't really see how being stuck with the man it could be a bad thing. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if… If you ever decide you want to have like a…  _proper_  relationship…" Cobra mumbled. "Or kids or something…" Naturally, they'd never come close to having that conversation, because it definitely wasn't something they'd do together. As little as Cobra wanted either of those things, there was the chance Bickslow still could. And if Bickslow wanted that, then there was really no point of getting married because they'd eventually go their separate ways. Besides, Bickslow had already told him that he didn't give a shit if Cobra fucked anyone else, because that just wasn't how  _their_  relationship worked. They were never going to have a normal relationship with each other, because it just wasn't them.

"Seriously? You think I want kids?"

"…I don't know. Do you?"

"Fuck no." He couldn't stand them. Or at least, he couldn't stand the idea of having his own with someone somehow. Bickslow was quite happy being the Super Cool Uncle. He was just waiting for Laxus to hurry up and get Evergreen knocked up, and then for Freed and Mira to have their little horde of demons. "Besides, I already have  _five_  of the fuckers. I don't need  _human_  children," Bickslow laughed. His babies were more than enough for him. "What about you? Since we're on the topic and all."

Cobra shuddered. "Fuck that. Kids are annoying. I'm already dreading Sorano spitting out her crotch dropling." Sorano was bound to have the most horrible baby on the planet. Cobra was certain of it. Still, just because Bickslow didn't want kids, didn't mean that he didn't want to be in a proper relationship. "You might still decide you want to be with something else and have a normal relationship though," he continued softly.

Bickslow refrained from rolling his eyes. "Cobra, you know damn well that that isn't going to happen," he said. "Besides, why would I even want anything else? Strangely enough, you're more than what I could ever actually want or need. I don't have a reason to want anything else." Even then, Bickslow just wasn't interested in anything  _normal_. That was just who he was.

Even if Bickslow had said it in a slightly weird way, it still made Cobra's cheeks flush. He occasionally had a hard time believing that he would ever be enough for anyone, mostly because he had more flaws and negative traits than anything else. But, for whatever reason, Bickslow still genuinely cared about him, and he didn't really care about any of those things.

There was still the issue of what Bickslow had actually suggested, though. The whole idea of marriage was something Cobra had never really seen the point of. Maybe it was just because he'd never actually expected to care about someone that much that he would actually  _want_  to get married. He cared about Bickslow undoubtedly. But the question was whether it was enough to actually  _marry_  the guy.

"You know you can actually say no to it," Bickslow said. He didn't need to have Sound magic to know what Cobra was stuck dwelling on. He'd gotten quite good at reading Cobra over the years. "It's not a big deal. Or at least I don't think it is. But you can still say no if you don't want to. It was just a suggestion."

"I know that," Cobra replied. He didn't really want to say no though. At least not right then. It was an appealing idea, Cobra had to admit that much. But... It wasn't so appealing that he could agree to it either. "But… Bix, you kind of sprung this on me…"

"Sorry," Bickslow said with an apologetic smile.

"I can't answer it now."

"That's fine. Just think on it. The offer's there if you want to take it." Bickslow personally didn't really care whether Cobra said yes or no to it. It just wasn't that important to him, and considering their relationship, getting married wouldn't really change anything anyway. It was more for Cobra's peace of mind.

* * *

Eventually, Cobra seemed to realise that there were a few more benefits than anything else to actually getting married. Legally, there were a few, but the main benefit was that he'd be able to always know there was someone in the world who genuinely cared whether he lived or died.

It took another three months for Cobra to reach that point, though once they did agree to actually go and get married somewhere, it had taken all of a few seconds for them both to decide that they didn't really want to make any kind of big deal out of it. Cobra had only told Macbeth, and the only reason Bickslow had mentioned it to his team was because it involved him leaving town for a couple of weeks, and he hadn't wanted anyone worrying where he was.

They'd gone to Cedar to elope, and it had been a simple ceremony with the officiant and some little old lady who gave out the certificates, and it had been exactly what they'd wanted. There hadn't even been any rings.

Once they returned to Magnolia though, and once Cobra really started to try and do something with his new free life, the invasive questions returned in full force. Bickslow had been so close to telling everyone to just fuck off and mind their own business on one particular day, just a few days after he'd returned from his not-honeymoon. But he hadn't had a chance to say it before Lucy had decided to pipe up and set the whole guild in their place, telling them that it really didn't matter whether or not Bickslow and Cobra slept together, or if they even  _loved_  each other, because it worked for them and they were happy together and that was all that mattered. At the time, Bickslow hadn't really known just what had possessed Lucy of all people to defend him, but it ended up being the start of a slightly chaotic friendship. Even Cobra had started to respect the woman a little more once he'd heard what she'd said.

Still, the questions all came at some point or another, but neither of them had expected any less. Cobra stopped letting them bother him, and Bickslow had never cared much in the first place.

But there were times in Cobra's life, usually when he was out doing some kind of mission he could do by himself and was just staring up at the dark, boundless sky of that universe, that he could find peace in knowing that he wasn't completely alone in the world, because he had Bickslow, and they were alone together, just like Bickslow had offered and joked about all those years earlier.

And that was all it had ever been about.


	4. Babies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference, this one is part of my GaLu/BixCo AU on ffnet, [Brothers, Sisters, and Unfortunate Husbands](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11722677/1/Brothers-Sisters-and-Unfortunate-Husbands). Again, it's not super important that you've read it, but it will make more sense.

Cobra didn't like small children. He found them annoying, and in most cases, they are all spoilt brats – although that wasn't entirely their fault, and it was mostly just because they had parents who were too weak to say no once in a while. But in general, Erik didn't like children.

The only child that Erik could tolerate was Andra, but with the Redfox-Heartfilia child, it wasn't like he had much of a choice. She was his damn niece and god-daughter, for fuck's sake. Even then, Andromeda was kind of adorable, especially when she wasn't crying.

What Erik  _hated_ , however… Were the babies. Those little flying fuckers that followed Bickslow around everywhere. Those things drove him insane. Even having lived with the man for close to four years, Erik still wanted to murder the tiny demons. Occasionally, he wanted to murder their master, too, but it was mostly just the babies he wanted to destroy.

It was at times like those though, where Lucy was off with Gajeel on a job for two days so (it would be the longest Lucy had been away from her daughter), and Bickslow had caught the flu from Laxus so he was stuck looking after Andra by himself, that Erik just really,  _really_  just wanted to kill the flying pests. As much as he tolerated looking after Andra every now and then (well, sort of), he hadn't signed up for two fucking days of it. No, that had been Bickslow's doing. But then he'd gotten sick, and Erik had been stuck babysitting the hellspawn. It would've been tolerable had Bickslow been  _well_ , though, because when he was sick, he was an annoying brat.

And sure, he got the whole 'in sickness and in health' part of their vows, but until Bickslow, Erik had never seen someone so irritating when all they had was a glorified cold. He whined constantly. He whined more than Andra did when she wanted a bottle.

Still, having to look after his husband, a ten-month-old who was frankly just boring, and the annoying little pests that Bickslow called his babies, really just pissed Erik off. He would've disappeared for a few days to let Bickslow deal with the germs by himself had Andra not been there. But, well…  _Someone_  had to look after the sproglodyte.

Much to his disgust, Erik woke up bright and early the first morning to Andra crying. Thankfully, she slept through the night, but with Bickslow snoring it wasn't like Erik had slept much anyway. At one point he'd been glaring at his husband in the dark and just about ready to smother him with a pillow. It was a good thing he loved the guy, otherwise suffocating him in his sleep would've been more than just a little tempting.

He lifted Andra from the crib just by the door and grimaced. Of course she needed to be changed, too, and no matter how many times Erik had done it, it still made him want to vomit. Babies were foul creatures – so foul sometimes that he liked to pretend that he'd never actually been one himself at one stage (although he was always reminded that clearly his parents had thought  _he_  was a foul little creature since they'd abandoned him before he could even remember).

"Why the fuck would Lucy willingly want to do this?" Erik only held Andra out as far away as he could while he searched for the rest of the crap Lucy and Gajeel had dropped off the afternoon before. "There is nothing appealing in wiping someone's ass when they've shit themselves. Your mother is a damn moron, kid."

The spawn still wasn't really at the stage where she understood anything, so of course, she only giggled and Erik had to fight hard not to throw up on the little demon – he'd gotten  _it_  on his hand.

His morning was not going so well.

And when Bickslow managed to drag his sorry ass out of bed, Erik's morning just got a whole lot worse. Andra was being fussy and wasn't eating her mashed banana, so he was already having a hard enough time dealing with that, and if Bickslow was up, then the babies would be up too and Erik really,  _really_  wasn't in the mood for their antics that morning.

"Keep your germs away from me," Erik snarled, glancing to the Seith mage as he trudged into the kitchen.

Bickslow groaned. "Come on, I'm not that sick." His voice was hoarse and his throat was raw from how much he'd been coughing all night – well, when he hadn't been snoring his head off, at least. "I'm fine. It's just a cold."

"Cold, cold!" the babies echoed.

"I don't care." Erik tried feeding Andromeda another spoonful of the bananas, only to have her turn her face away and pout. "Go be sick somewhere else. If you get me sick, I'll poison you. And if you get Andra sick, then you know Lucy and Gajeel will murder you."

It sent a chill down Bickslow's spine. Although he couldn't quite tell if that was his fever coming back on or the threat of his neighbours murdering him. "Fine… I'll go back to bed…" he ceded. "But can you at least bring me in something to eat when you're done feeding Andra?"

"What did your last slave die of?"

"Probably the flu."

Erik snorted. "I'm not bringing you food." He tried giving Andra some more of the bananas, only to have her refuse them once again and he finally gave up with a frustrated sigh. "You can get your own. I'm too busy looking after the lizard."

"She's not a lizard, Erik," Bickslow sighed. Although really,  _lizard_  was probably one of the nicer names his husband had given her. "But  _please_? I'll keep my germs away if you just bring me food—"

"Okay, Jesus fucking Christ!" Erik rolled his eyes as he caved. "I'll bring you some damn food. Just go away already." He tried not to pay attention to Bickslow's internal gloating as he returned to the warm confines of their bed, and instead just quickly cleaned up the unwanted bananas and went about finding something else to give Andra for breakfast.

* * *

Erik had just collapsed down onto the lounge after getting Andra down for her morning nap when the babies came flying in one by one and started nudging him. He groaned, reaching out to swat the tikis away. "What the fuck do you fuckers want now?"

"Bored, bored!" they all cheered dismally. "Bix sleeping."

Contrary to what Erik had once thought when he'd first met the Seith mage, his babies never actually 'slept'. They had moments of stillness and silence occasionally, usually at night because that was what Bickslow told them to do, but for the most part, they needed constant attention. And when Bickslow was asleep in the middle of the day, then they had no one to give them attention. From what Erik could tell, his husband was almost always talking to them in his head just because that was how he kept them from misbehaving. For the most part, Erik had no idea what he talked about – he'd never actually been good at reading his husband's soul. He'd never cared much though.

Still, after Erik had finally gone and given Bickslow something to eat after he'd gotten Andra sorted, the man had been in and out of sleep all morning. Erik didn't blame him, nor did he really care. But he cared about the babies being annoying little shits, because he hated having to the deal with them.

"So? Go sleep then," Erik groaned. "Or whatever the fuck it is you lot do at night. I'm not your master."

"Step-master!"

"That…" He shook his head and let out a sigh. He wasn't going to indulge them with that train of thought. He barely even knew what it was supposed to mean. Rubbing his temple, Erik picked himself up from the lounge as the pests continued to circle him and nudge his side as well as his head. He fought to keep his temper under wraps as he ground out, "What the fuck do you expect me to do anyway? I can't talk to you like Bix does." Well, he probably could if he tried, but he didn't want to try.

"Play with us!" the babies chanted, their little voices doing that creepy droning thing that Erik still hated sometimes.

"Play with you? How?"

They swirled around him again for a moment, before suddenly, they all zoomed out the open window just behind the lounge and out into the front garden. He definitely wasn't in the mood to play with the babies as it was, but he'd resigned to doing that just because he knew it was the only way he'd get them to leave him the fuck alone. Now he seemingly had to fucking chase them, and… Erik didn't run. Ever.

He'd chased Bickslow through town once because of some dick-move prank (or accident, Bickslow claimed) he'd pulled on him, but that was different. The guy had needed to be fucking poisoned for pulling that shit on him. Granted, it had ended with the Seith mage falling off a pier and almost drowning, but that still wasn't the point.

Erik wasn't going to chase the babies. They could go live in the wild and grow big and scary for all he cared. Bickslow could get new ones, couldn't he? Honestly, Erik didn't know that much about how Bickslow had come to collect his souls. It was probably the one thing he didn't talk about at all. Although from his secrecy about it alone, Erik knew that it probably involved something Bickslow wasn't at all proud of.

Still, Erik just didn't care. He didn't care about what the babies were up to. He just wanted to lay back down on the lounge, close his eyes ( _er_ , eye) and get a quick nap in while it was quiet. So he did just that, making himself comfortable with his head on a small cushion.

All was well for just a few minutes. That was when he felt something cold and damp fall onto the side of his face, something sand-like, and the smell of  _earth_  became a little overwhelming. Erik almost didn't want to open his eye and see what mischief the babies had gotten into – because really, it had to be them. But he did it anyway, slowly, and peered up to the five dolls hovering above him, each of them with mounds of dirt sitting on the tops of them and in the carved crevices.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." Dirt fell into his mouth as he spoke and Erik quickly spit it back out, scraping it off his tongue and trying to get the awful taste completely out of his mouth as he sat up.

"Cleaning time! Cleaning time!" the babies said. Erik refrained from setting them on fire.

Gritting his teeth, Erik only got up from the lounge and went in search for his husband's cleaning kit for the totems.

* * *

Bickslow struggled to pull himself out of bed later in the day. Every muscle and joint in his body was aching, and by the time he'd managed to just sit up on the edge of the mattress, all he wanted to do was collapse back down and be horizontal again. He didn't have the energy to do anything at all, but… He was thirsty, and he needed another box of tissues. He would've just gotten the babies to go and ask Erik for them, but for the life of him, Bickslow didn't know where the babies were.

At that moment, he had absolutely no idea where they were or what they were doing. It was a rare occurrence for them to have no presence, and a slight bit of panic ran through him as he made it out of the bedroom and trudged out into the hall.

"Cobra?" Bickslow called out, his voice still hoarse and speaking strained him. "Where are you?"

"Living room," Erik replied gruffly.

He made it to the room at the front of the house, and Bickslow couldn't keep the grin off his face. Andromeda was standing in front of the bookcase, pulling down books and movies and dropping them all in piles behind her. The coffee table was covered in her favourite stuffed animals and toys from home. And Erik was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, arms folded and a scowl on his face, while Poppo sat nestled on top of his head and the rest were sitting somewhere on Erik's shoulders and lap.

Bickslow was convinced he'd just walked into his husband's worst nightmare, but it was hilarious all the same.

"Having fun there?" Bickslow snickered.

"I've never had so much fun in my whole life."

Bickslow coughed – laughing wasn't a good idea it seemed. "Aw, are the babies picking on you?" he teased instead.

"Andra's a fucking monster," Erik snapped. "She's the devil incarnate."

"Oh, come on. She's not that bad."

"She is. She knocked all her food onto the floor when I turned around for three seconds, and then she wouldn't stop throwing those stupid biscuits at my face. And now she's apparently  _redecorating_."

Bickslow had come to learn just how troublesome his niece had grown to be over the last few months. He found it hilarious, though. Even more hilarious was the fact that his husband was the one who was having to deal with it all. If Bickslow hadn't been sick, then he'd definitely be helping him, because that was what the original arrangement had been, despite Lucy having made it clear months earlier that Erik was her new favourite babysitter (not that he was useful those days anyway, since his baby-whispering abilities seemed to have been failing). But still, he  _was_  sick, so he wasn't going to go near Andra. That just meant Erik had to deal with her tantrums and apparently inner interior-designer emerging.

Their lounge room had needed to be cleaned up anyway.

"Well… At least she's not trying to eat the corner of the table like she used to…" Bickslow shrugged. Silver linings.

"No, but she was trying to eat your babies. And then she got mad at them and hit them against each other."

Bickslow grimaced. His babies weren't too fond of Andra and her wanting to eat everything that wasn't edible all the time… He didn't blame them, either. But it explained why Erik was now guarding them. Or something like that.

Erik glanced back to Andra when she dropped another book behind her before moving onto the next shelf and reaching for another book. He let out a sigh and shook his head. He didn't have the energy to deal with her. And if he did, she just threw a tantrum. He didn't like her when she was being a brat. "What are you doing out here anyway?" Erik asked Bickslow. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I was," he admitted. "But I wanted something to eat, and I needed to get another box of tissues because I emptied the other one. Speaking of, do we have another one?"

"Nope."

"Oh…"

Erik narrowed his eye slightly at his husband. "…You want me to go and buy you some damn tissues, don't you?"

He nodded. "Please?" he pleaded. Bickslow knew Erik didn't want to go out, but… He really needed more tissues. His head was just full of all kinds of crap and his nose was either permanently blocked or running like a tap. Either way, it was annoying and disgusting. The small bin he'd put next to him was overflowing with used tissues from the morning alone, but Bickslow just didn't have the energy to clean it up. "I mean, unless you want me sniffling every three seconds…"

Of course, Bickslow had a fair point. But he also just really didn't want to go out just to buy tissues. "Go use toilet paper or something."

"Come on, we need more tissues anyway. Please, Cobe?"

He only continued to glower at the Seith mage for a moment before he caved and began picking himself up from the ground, shooing the babies away and off him. "Fine," he snarled. He was weak when it came to Bickslow's stupid face.

Still, Erik just couldn't wait for the next two days to be over. Lucy and Gajeel would be back so they could take their spawn back home, and Bickslow would be well enough to actually look after himself again. Erik was already sick of running around after the both of them, catering to their every need. The babies just being annoying pests really hadn't helped.

So after getting out of his pyjamas and into some proper clothes to go out, and after getting Andra settled in her sling (the one time she was always quiet), Erik was heading to the front door to go and get his husband his precious tissues. But then from down the hall Bickslow was quickly calling out, "And some lemon tea too, please!"

Erik's eye twitched as he held back the urge to tell Bickslow where he could stick that lemon tea.

* * *

Erik was all too happy once Lucy and Gajeel returned, tired and in desperate need of cuddles from their infant daughter. It had been later than they'd originally said, but Bickslow had been better that day so at the very least, Erik hadn't needed to look after  _him_  as well as his babies. He could handle Andra when it was just her.

Even if Bickslow had been feeling better that day, he'd still gone to bed early. By the time Lucy and Gajeel had been heading back to their own home with Andra and all of her things, Bickslow had just been saying goodnight and heading straight for the warm confines of Sleep Town. And as soon as Erik had closed and locked the door behind his neighbours, he'd gone straight down to hall to join his husband.

He collapsed face-down onto the bed, leaving his feet hanging off the side and his face pressed into his pillow. Bickslow chuckled quietly to himself at Erik's tired groan. "You right there?"

"I'm so fucking tired," Erik mumbled.

He'd barely slept the night before. Bickslow had been up all night coughing and just tossing and turning all the damn time again. And then by the time Erik had been able to fall asleep himself, the sun had been coming up, and Andra woke up not long after that. Coffee had been his friend that day.

Still, after looking after an infant for two full days, Erik just wanted to sleep.

"Early night then?" Bickslow suggested.

"Definitely." He just needed to find the energy to get up and go take a shower first. And with great effort, after resting for just another moment, Erik finally went about pushing himself out of bed. "I don't know how those two do it," he mumbled. "Take care of that demon all day and then still have the energy to go out and do things." He really didn't get it. He was exhausted after two days. How Lucy and Gajeel had managed to do that for almost every hour of almost every single day for the last ten odd months was beyond Erik right then.

Bickslow shrugged. He knew Lucy was tired all the time, but he also knew that she thought it was worth it. "With great effort, I imagine. But they keep doing it because they love being parents."

"Clearly. But god, it's just so fucking tiring." Erik stretched his arms over his head before he finally got up from the bed. "Why would you even want to have to deal with all that work?"

"Is that an actual question?"

"Sure. Enlighten me."

Bickslow turned on the mattress to look back up to the ceiling. They'd never really talked about why he wanted kids so much. Even if Erik had always known that was what Bickslow wanted, he'd never actually asked  _why_  until then. And for the most part, Bickslow had never really thought about it either. He didn't really have a solid reason for wanting them, not as far as he knew. And given how obvious that his husband had made it over the years that he didn't want children, Bickslow had mostly stopped thinking about it at all. He'd seen no point in it.

But, Erik seemed to be asking the reason then, which meant Bickslow had to come up with some kind of answer. "I guess it's just because I like them," he murmured. "Don't really give a shit about having someone take care of me when I'm old and all. Couldn't care less about passing on bloodlines and crap either."

"So you want to be exhausted all the time just for the sake of it?"

Bickslow shrugged again. "I guess so." There wasn't really anything special about it. He just wanted to be a dad and be able to point to his kid who was doing amazing things and say,  _'I did that.'_

Erik still didn't really get it. He didn't think he ever would see the appeal in having his own kid or being totally responsible for another human life. Still though, once about a time he'd thought all children were horrible little monsters. Those days… not so much.

He liked Andra when she was quiet. Some babies were nice babies.

Then again, Erik knew with certainty that any baby he raised would actually be the devil incarnate.


	5. Marks/Scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of based on this stupid prompt/concept I saw on Tumblr a while ago. I'm basically just making fun of it.

The first time Bickslow had seen the barely visible scars that criss-crossed over Erik's back, it had been the first time they'd slept together. Back then, it had been nothing more than a mostly drunken tryst, and Bickslow hadn't had the slightest idea why or how Erik had the scars.

Now though… Now it was something Bickslow knew all about. It helped that he'd been dating the man for nearly three years. Bickslow knew all about Erik's childhood, as painful a subject as it was, and Erik knew all about his. By that point in their relationship, there were very few things they didn't know about each other – although admittedly, it had been harder for Bickslow to get to know Erik than it had been for Erik to know all about Bickslow.

That was just how Erik was, though. He wasn't so fond of letting people in, not unless he trusted someone completely, and even that was hard for Erik to do.

Still, after nearly three years together, there were just a few things left to be unanswered and undiscovered, and Erik was in the mood to have one question in particular answered.

"So were you actually dumb enough to get a tattoo in the middle of your fucking face, or is it like a birthmark thing?"

Bickslow snorted at Erik's question. It was one he'd been asked at least a thousand times before, just never by his boyfriend. Bickslow had started to think Erik would never ask. Now that he had, Bickslow couldn't help but be a little disappointed.  _And here I thought he was different._

"It's definitely not a tattoo," Bickslow answered, rolling his eyes as he finished pulling his shirt on over his head before going to join Erik in bed. "It's not a birthmark either since I don't actually think I had it when I was baby." He'd been adopted when he'd been younger and couldn't really remember anything about his birth parents, but he could vaguely remember asking someone about it once and they'd said that it had supposedly started growing and darkening when he'd been a child. For the most part, Bickslow couldn't remember anything about his childhood at all.

"So, what the fuck is it?" Erik asked, his eye narrowing as he sat up on an elbow facing Bickslow.

He gave a small shrug. "If I knew, I'd tell you. I've had it since I was a kid though."

"Did it just like, appear overnight or something?"  _I bet that would've freaked your folks out_. Erik had to refrain from snickering at his own thought.

"No," Bickslow grumbled. "I think it was like, gradual. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure one of my foster parents at one point might've taken me to a doctor because she thought I had some kind of skin cancer or something…" It was safe to say Bickslow hadn't lasted long with that foster family for very long, since the mark had ended up being related to his developing Seith magic and no one had really wanted anything to do with a young Seith mage.

"Of course," Erik laughed.

"Anyway. Now I have a question for you."

"Oh?"

Bickslow's grin grew just a little wicked, but it was something Erik was not afraid of in the slightest. "Why the  _fuck_  did you decide to get your guild mark on your ass?" The first time Bickslow seen Crime Sorcière's logo printed in bright purple on Erik's right cheek, he'd laughed for ten minutes straight.

He hadn't even known that Erik  _had_  a guild mark until then, being that it was an independent guild and not a legal guild (or a dark guild, for that matter). But of all the places for him to get his mark, it had to have been on his ass.

"Why the fuck did you decide to get  _your_  guild mark on your tongue?" Erik responded with his own question.

Bickslow shrugged again. "There's a good chance I was high as a kite at the time." Bickslow had joined the guild when he'd been seventeen, but he couldn't remember much from when he'd been a teenager still, either. Bickslow supposed his horrible memory was from how many times Laxus had zapped him over the years.

Erik sighed. "Well, it's on my ass because I felt like having it there."

"Good reason."

"It's a fucking great reason."

" _Totally_. Although…"

That was a bad tone. Erik knew that tone. Bickslow was up to something, and the thing with Bickslow's soul was that it was a fucking clusterfuck of chaos that Erik was almost always incapable of hearing, so seeing that godforsaken smirk and knowing his boyfriend almost  _too_  well sometimes, Erik was just a little worried about what was to come.

He didn't even answer before Bickslow was slyly continuing, "You know there's this tradition with mages right… That when they get married, they're supposed to kiss their partner's guild mark…"

"Oh, fuck me. No. Not happening," Erik quickly said.

"So if we were to ever get married, I'm pretty sure we'd have to have like, the tiniest of ceremonies in the history of ceremonies."

"Bix, I'm pretty sure we'd get arrested for public indecency anyway, even if we literally only invited one person."

Bickslow snickered, letting out a sigh as he agreed, "Oh, now that is very true. I think someone would go blind if they saw you sucking on my  _tongue_  though."

The image sent a shiver down Erik's spine. "I've never been more opposed to getting married than I am right now." Nope, nope, nope. Erik was never going to be able to take Bickslow's tongue seriously ever again. The next time he saw his boyfriend with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, Erik was probably going to have nightmares about them getting married for at least a week.

Naturally, Erik wasn't opposed to being with Bickslow, but going through with the mage wedding tradition? Hell to the fucking no.

Although admittedly, it wasn't even the first time Erik had heard of that tradition anyway. It had been a tiny part of the reason why he'd decided to get his guild mark where he had. At the time, telling someone to kiss his ass on his wedding day had been all too appealing. Of course though, he'd never considered it to be a real possibility anyway, so it had just been something to laugh over for three seconds before he had Macbeth stick a giant stamper with purple ink onto his ass.

Bickslow sat up slightly just to slide closer to Erik, a mischievous smirk still on his lips as he quickly pressed a kiss to Erik's lips. "Opposed to getting married, huh? So you don't want me to kiss your ass in public?" he teased.

"No, I think it's  _everyone_   _else_  who doesn't want you kiss my fuckin' ass in public."

"Well, that's their loss." Erik rolled his eye as Bickslow kissed him again, firmer that time before her murmured against Erik's mouth, "But let's be real anyway, you like it when I kiss your ass. You like my tongue, too."

One of those days, Erik was going to find a way to poison his boyfriend. Temporarily, of course. But poisoned nonetheless.

Although really… It wasn't like he could say that Bickslow was wrong, because he wasn't. "Oh, shut up," he mumbled. But it didn't really count for much since Bickslow was already pressing his lips back to Erik's and silencing them both, while his hand worked its way right into Erik's sleep pants.


	6. Pets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow-up to the Day 1 prompt, Birthday, so it's set just a few months later.

The bell dinged as the glass doors opened and Bickslow slowly entered the pharmacy. An assistant in her bright orange shirt greeted him as he passed her and all he could manage was something that  _resembled_  a greeting. He passed one of the sale bin with eucalyptus tissues on his way to the prescription counter, and made a mental note to pick up some tissues on his way out.

Another assistant stepped up to the counter when she saw Bickslow come up. He coughed into his elbow as he slowly stepped forward, pulling the new prescription from his doctor out of his back jeans pocket. She'd been about to ask Bickslow if that was all he needed filled that day when the on-duty pharmacist popped his head up from behind the dispensary counter and quickly came over.

"I'll deal with this one. Don't worry. You can go on your break or something if you want," he said. His assistant blinked at him before hesitantly obliging and she disappeared through a door just behind the wall of over-the-counter medications. She'd been wanting to take her lunch break anyway.

Bickslow, though, could only groan. He hated visiting that pharmacist just because it was the one Erik worked at. He thankfully rarely had to visit them at all, but that time, needing antibiotics, he'd just been too sick and lazy to drive an extra fifteen minutes just to visit a different pharmacist. But for the most part, Erik wasn't actually supposed to be serving customers. It was usually only when he had nothing else to do. Or, in that case, when it was his boyfriend. "Dude, come on. Go away," Bickslow pouted, attempting to pull his prescription back from Erik before he could read over it. "You know you're not supposed to serve me."

Well, it wasn't a case that he wasn't allowed – Erik had even gone so far as to read every single guideline that was available. It was more that it wasn't completely moral for him to do so. It was legal, but it was questionable.

"Oh, shut up." Erik swatted his boyfriend's hand away as he grabbed a pen and then filled out Bickslow's last name on the pick-up receipt. Even if he was the only one in the store right then, he still had to do it. "It's just antibiotics anyway."

"Fine…" Bickslow took the pen from Erik just to sign his name on the bottom of the script, and then followed him over to the tall dispensary counter. He actually had no idea why prescriptions seemed to take so long, since all they really did was grab a box from the shelf, print out a label and a new prescription. Erik had only told him that there was a process and that there were rules to be followed, and Bickslow just hadn't questioned it.

So, as Erik quietly went about that, grabbing the right antibiotics from the shelf behind him and then went about checking it to make sure it was the right dosage and that it was actually the right type, he glanced up over the counter to Bickslow hovering on the other side, seemingly staring at the throat lozenge display in front of him. "So? What did the doctor say then?" Erik asked. He'd been the one to convince the guy to go and see a doctor in the first place. He was kind of curious to know what it was the doctor had said, even if he could probably guess what it was. "I'm guessing tonsillitis, judging by the amoxycillin."

"Yeah," Bickslow mumbled. "And a chest infection too, apparently."

"Got a medical certificate for work?"

"For the next week."

Erik had suspected as much. And, well, a week off would be good for Bickslow. Erik was pretty sure he'd been working seven days a week ever since he'd taken the job at the university library. It was no wonder he'd gotten so sick; he'd literally worked himself to the ground over the last six months.

The library would survive without him for a week anyway. Besides, the dude worked with university students. Who wouldn't want to get away from that? Erik had been one once. He knew how annoying they could be sometimes, feeling all high and mighty and like they were on top of the world since they weren't in high school anymore and were legally adults. They were still brats.

Erik finished up with the prescription as he printed the label and stuck it on the box. "Well… Go home and get some rest then. You need it." He handed Bickslow his new box of antibiotics as well as the re-printed prescription with the repeat on it. "And, try these too. They should help," he added, reaching down to pick up the numbing variety of the throat lozenges.

"If you say so…"

"I do say so."

Bickslow was already leaving with the box of antibiotics and throat lozenges bundled in his arms as he mumbled in reply, "Uh-huh. Okay, asshole."

Erik only scowled as he watched his boyfriend add two boxes of tissues to the pile in his arms. Sure, he may be an asshole, and sure, he got that it had been Bickslow's favourite way of showing affection since they'd ever actually started talking… But he was at work right then, damn it. Bickslow was just damn lucky that no one would've overheard it that time.

* * *

Erik visited Bickslow after work that evening, just like he did most days. He could hear the man's two dogs barking at him through the door before he'd even pushed it open, and Erik only grimaced as he slowly got the door open and the two fluffy canines pushed their way through the growing gap just to greet him.

He really hated dogs. He especially hated Bickslow's dogs. Sure, they were friendly… But they were annoying fuckers and Erik couldn't remember ever waking up at the librarian's house one morning without having either a German Shepherd or Shetland Sheepdog getting right in his face and licking him. They were both too damn fluffy, too. Even if he didn't touch the damn animals, he would always walk out of Bickslow's house covered in dog hair.

But, as much as Erik hated the fluffy, over-energetic beasts… The dogs happened to really like him. Bickslow always said that it was a good thing because they didn't really like other people (apparently Elsa, the sheepdog, had bitten one of his best friends when she'd been a puppy), but Erik didn't think it was a good thing. He just wanted them to leave him the fuck alone for once.

Still, if he patted them on his way in, they became somewhat tolerable, so he only reached down after managing to let himself in, and scratched each one on the head quickly. "Yes, yes, hello. Now go away. I gave you your pats," Erik mumbled. Apollo, the German Shephard, barked at him and Erik scowled. "Don't you bark at me, mister. I'll tell your dad on you if you keep that up." The dog whined, his tail wagging happily, and then he barked at Erik again before running off down the hall.

Erik just rolled his eyes. This was why he preferred snakes. They were quiet and didn't talk back.

Still, as he walked down the hall, and as Elsa walked so close that she kept bumping into the back of his legs, Erik couldn't help but wonder if they'd been fed yet. He supposed not, judging by how Apollo stood at the back door waiting to be let out. He knew they got more annoying when it was dinner time. And, since he hadn't already found Bickslow yet, he figured that the man was asleep or just in bed or something. So with a sigh, Erik only decided to be nice to the annoying creatures, and he set the small bag of groceries that he'd picked up on his way over there down onto the bench, and let the dogs out so he could give them some food outside.

With the dogs then taken care of, Erik went in search of his boyfriend. He found him in the bedroom, unsurprisingly, tucked up under the blanket with his face pressed against the pillow and one arm hanging over the side of the bed. Erik almost didn't want to wake Bickslow up (although he was slightly confused as to how he hadn't woken up from the dogs already), but he doubted the man had eaten anything all afternoon so he really needed to wake up and eat.

He crouched down beside the bed to gently nudge the man. "Bix?" Erik said softly. He tried it again when Bickslow made no effort to move. "Oi, Bix. Wake up." He nudged him a little harder than time, and Bickslow just rolled right back into place like it had been nothing. Erik couldn't help but feel a little worried. He should've woken up by then. Bickslow wasn't a heavy sleeper by any means, not as far as Erik knew.

So he all but shook Bickslow in an attempt to wake him up, almost pleading that he heard him and would wake up. But then Bickslow finally groaned, having woken up to being shaken and nudged far too much, and Erik breathed a sigh of relief, dropping his head down onto the edge of the pillow.

"Why are you being so annoying?" Bickslow mumbled, words slurred and eyes tired as he slowly opened them. He'd been so warm and comfortable…

_Annoying?!_  He hadn't been annoying. He'd been worried about his partner, damn it. And people thought  _he_  was the bigger asshole… Bickslow could definitely be one when he was grumpy. Like right then. "You weren't waking up and I was worried about you, jerk," Erik admitted into the pillow. But really, he had been scared for a moment. Of all the things that Bickslow would die from, it would definitely be a glorified cold.

Bickslow couldn't help but chuckle quietly, only to end with a harsh cough as he sat up. "Aw, Erik was worried for me," he teased. "I must be special."

Erik had to refrain from putting the man back to sleep himself. Instead, he only scowled and slowly stood up. "Have you eaten anything?"

"I had a piece of toast when I got home earlier. What time is it anyway?"

"A little after six. You need to eat something, though. I'll make you something."

Bickslow nodded and slowly began pulling himself out of bed. Erik stopped him before he could stand though, his hands on his shoulders as he pushed him back down. "Come on, let me up," Bickslow sighed. "I need to go feed the dogs." It was a mystery that they weren't already irritating him to tell him that it was dinner time. Dinner was promptly at five o'clock.

"I already fed them," Erik said. "Now sit your ass down before I chain you here."

"Can you at least wait until I'm not sick to do that? I mean, I'll probably enjoy it if I'm not half dead."

Once more, Erik was having to refrain from put the man back to sleep. He shook his head and rolled his eyes, already turning to go make Bickslow something to eat. "You're impossible sometimes." He could just make out the snicker before he left the room, venturing into the kitchen.

Bickslow ended up having a shower as Erik got dinner organised. The steam helped clear his nose and warmed him up, so by the time he was getting out entering a kitchen, loosely running a towel through his hair to get rid of some of the dampness, Erik was just serving up dinner. It wasn't anything special – just some chicken noodle soup that Erik already knew that Bickslow liked.

"Oh. I was going to bring it in so you didn't have to get up," Erik said. He'd had the bowls with glasses of orange juice already sitting on the tray, ready to be taken in once he was ready.

Bickslow shrugged, hanging the damp towel over the back of a chair at the counter. "Nah, I'd rather eat out here. Smells good though."

They sat themselves down at the small table by the kitchen and ate mostly in silence. Bickslow's throat hurt too much to be his usual chatty self, and as comfortable as Erik had grown to be around the librarian in the months they'd known each other (and, later, been dating), he still didn't mind the silence. Erik mostly just flicked through the junk mail catalogues that he'd brought in from Bickslow's mailbox.

Once dinner was done, Erik took to cleaning up before Bickslow could even get out of his chair and take the dishes to the sink himself. The dogs were let back in, and Bickslow retreated down the hall with his four-legged friends in tow. He was already tucked up in his bed with his pillows behind him and the dogs leaning on his legs by the time Erik came back down to join him.

He let out a sigh as he sat down on the opposite side of the bed, only grimacing slightly when he had to push Elsa's rear end away slightly just so he didn't get hit in the face with her tail. As far as Bickslow was concerned, his bed was his dogs' bed too. Erik just had to deal with it. He watched Bickslow reach for his book on the nightstand and settle down under the blanket before opening it up. "Not going to bed yet?" Erik asked.

Bickslow shook his head. "Not yet." He was exhausted, definitely. But it was still barely past seven and that was way too early for him to go to sleep. He'd be up in the middle of the night if he did that, especially since he'd had one of the best naps just that afternoon. "I think I'll just read for a little bit first."

Erik glanced to his own book sitting beside him. He knew he only had a few pages left.  _I should probably take that home to finish tonight._  That way, he could return it on Saturday and get a start on the other book he'd taken out the week before. He'd been looking forward to reading the other book for weeks, but every time he'd gone to get it out, it had been on loan somewhere else. He'd almost been tempted to go and buy a copy of it himself. Bickslow had praised it endlessly, and considering Erik had in fact love every single book the man had recommended he read, he knew his boyfriend had good taste in books.

He only had bad taste in men, it seemed, but Erik only thought it to be some kind of weird blessing. He really did love his librarian.

Erik sighed again as he swung his legs back over the side of the bed to stand, picking up his book as he did so. "Are you good if I go?"

Bickslow looked up and nodded slightly, giving the shorter man with the barely concealed worried expression a small smile. "I'll be fine." He was perfectly capable of looking after himself when he was sick, as much as Erik thought otherwise.

"Well… I guess I'll just head home then," Erik mumbled. He really didn't like his apartment much. It was still noisy and his neighbours were still annoying. It was part of why he spent most nights at Bickslow's. It was nicer there, even with the dogs taking up most of the space on the bed each night.

But… Bickslow was sick. And Erik couldn't afford to get sick either. He could handle spending a few extra nights in his own bed for once.

Bickslow hadn't expected anything else, either. Granted, he'd come to prefer it when Erik stayed – human company in bed was always nicer than canine company – but he knew why Erik would rather stay at his own apartment that night. Bickslow didn't really want Erik getting sick either. It was better that way.

"Alright then," Bickslow said softly, momentarily closing the book before he started reading. "Drive safe."

"I will." Erik walked around the bed before making for the door, just to lean down and kiss the top of Bickslow's head. They weren't usually that affectionate, at least not with tender little moments like that, so Bickslow couldn't help but blush a little. He wasn't used to things like that. "Stay warm, and don't forget to eat when you take the meds," Erik told him, and Bickslow gave a gentle nod before finally getting into his book.

* * *

Erik visited Bickslow every night after work just to check up on him and make sure he was getting better. When the weekend came around, Erik visited just as he usually did, right after visiting the library in the morning to return the books he'd finished and then get out new ones to read.

For the most part, they did what they usually did on the weekend: eat and binge watch  _Scrubs._ Bickslow had been feeling better by that point, although his throat had still been raw and he'd still had trouble breathing from the chest infection still clearing up. But since Erik had been feeling like a good boyfriend for once, he'd decided to take care of the house and all the weekly chores and such so Bickslow could just focus on getting better.

So he did the dishes, as usual. He cooked, just so Bickslow didn't have to live off toast because he was too lazy to make anything else for himself. He even picked up a few extra groceries for the man – just necessities like milk, juice, eggs and such – just so he wouldn't have to go out to get anything himself. He vacuumed, he mopped when Bickslow went to bed on the Saturday night, and he even did the washing that had been piling up from during the week – although how there'd been so much, considering Bickslow had spent half the week in his pyjamas, Erik didn't know.

And when the dogs needed to go for a walk on Saturday evening, just because they hadn't been for a few days and they'd started getting annoying and destroying furniture from being bored, Erik even did that too. Although Bickslow had actually  _asked_  Erik to take the dogs for a walk. He would've done it himself if he'd been able to, but he hadn't had the energy or the breath to do so.

After finishing up with the lunch dishes on Sunday, Erik wiped his hands on the towel and turned to the bin to take the rubbish outside. As soon as that was done, he could… Well, he could go and sit and do nothing, or he could read. The latter was always more appealing. He was well aware of Elsa following him through the house to the front door – how could he not be when she walked so close that he felt her nose bump into the back of his legs every step. He merely ignored her though, just as he usually did, and when he reached the door, he only tried his best to get out in as little space as he could.

But Elsa was being persistent that day for some reason, wedging her head in the gap from the door so Erik couldn't even close it. "Elsa, no. Get back inside," Erik commanded, dropping the bag of rubbish just so he could reach around the doorframe and try and push the fluffy creature back inside. The dog whined, and pushed hard, determined to get outside for some reason. And with a hard nudge of her head, Erik had to let go of the door and Elsa quickly bolted outside and across the lawn.

At first, Erik just rolled his eyes, assuming that the dog just wanted to go and roll around on the grass or something. But then he spotted the cat sitting on the fence to Bickslow's front yard, and Erik could only watch on with horror and hold a hand to his mouth as he watched his partner's dog jump straight over the fence to chase the cat across the street.

Inside, Bickslow was just waking up to the sound of a yelp and the screech of tires on the asphalt.

* * *

Erik had never felt so guilty in his entire life, and he'd done a lot of things in his life where he should've felt just a little guilty. But being the reason that his boyfriend's dog got hit by a car… That was, right then, the worst thing Erik had ever done.

Bickslow had barely said two words to him all afternoon. Not on the way to the vet, where he'd been sitting with Elsa on the way there, and definitely not on the way back, where he'd been in the passenger seat and staring out at the window just to avoid facing Erik at all.

Elsa's ashes would be delivered sometime during the week, from what Erik had overheard. Erik didn't quite understand the need to cremate pets, or even the  _want_  to, but he knew that it would never be his place to say anything. The reminder of lost pets (or people, for the most part) just seemed like unnecessary pain to him.

Still, Erik knew that Bickslow had gotten Elsa when she'd just been a puppy. She'd been with him since he'd decided to move away from home and get out of a relationship that had been quite frankly killing him, and go to college on the other side of the country to study literature and become a librarian. That damn ball of fluff had been with Bickslow for ten long years, and she could've very well had a few more had Erik not failed to keep her inside for just a few more minutes.

When Erik parked out the front of Bickslow's house, Bickslow had already gotten out of the car before it had even been switched off. Erik heard the front door slam from where he sat in the car, and if he hadn't already figured out that Bickslow didn't want to even see him right then, then Erik definitely would've guessed it then. But as much as Erik understood that, he couldn't just drive off and leave it. He cared too much about him to do that.

Erik was just a little surprised the door was still unlocked when he tried it just a few moments later. Part of him had expected Bickslow to lock him out. When he found Bickslow just out on his patio, Erik stopped just by the door, afraid to step any closer. Apollo sat in front of Bickslow, head on his lap and paw raised. Erik could hear the quiet whines from where he stood, and although he usually found it annoying, he knew he couldn't right then.

That was really the only thing Erik did find interesting about dogs, though. That they always knew when something was wrong with their owner. His snake certainly didn't give a shit out him…

He had to wet his lips before he could finally say anything, and even then, Erik wasn't sure if he was saying the right thing. "Bickslow, I'm…" Erik began softly, only watching as Bickslow kept slowly petting the German Shepherd in front of him. "I'm sorry. I am so fucking sorry."

Bickslow didn't even spare a glance up to him.

"I really didn't mean to let her out. I… I tried to stop her, I did, but…" He paused, realising that it didn't really matter if he'd tried to stop Elsa from getting out, because it had already happened. His voice was quieter and close to breaking as he continued, "I know it doesn't matter that it was an accident, because it's still my fault… A-And I fucked up, and I know that, and I'm sorry."

Erik knew not to expect an  _'it's okay, I forgive you'_  from Bickslow, because he knew it just wouldn't happen. Part of him half expected Bickslow to say silent as well, because he'd made it so painfully (and understandably) obvious that he didn't want to even see Erik right then.

But then after a moment, where all Erik did was stand patiently, too scared to move or say anything else, Bickslow finally said softly, "You should leave."

And that, Erik had expected. He just hadn't expected it to hurt so much, actually hearing the words.

He knew his words weren't wanted there, so he only gave a small nod as he turned and slowly let himself out. Keeping the tears back until he'd gotten home to his small apartment proved to be a challenge though.

* * *

Bickslow sat on his lounge, Apollo laying across his lap, and staring at the small urn now sitting in the middle of his mantel. It had finally been delivered that evening, right as he'd been getting back from work for the day.

It had been more than a week since Bickslow had last spoken to Erik, the last time being when he'd told his boyfriend to leave the day he'd had to put his pet down just to end her suffering.

He wanted to hate Erik, he really did. He'd still have his best friend (well, one of them) if it hadn't been for his incompetence and inability to keep a door shut. But he just couldn't hate him. He was unbelievably pissed at him, but Bickslow didn't hate him.

He loved him. Just like he had the week before, and the week before that… But he had one hell of a history when it came to dating, one which Erik knew about, and even if Bickslow knew Erik wouldn't take advantage of him like the person in his last real relationship had, he was still too scared to tell Erik how he felt.

Bickslow knew how bad Erik felt about the whole situation, though. He did. He knew how sorry Erik was. He knew that it had been an accident. And even if Bickslow knew that, he still just had no idea what he was supposed to say to the man. He still didn't even really want to see Erik at all, because he knew that if he did, he was just going to get mad again and Bickslow really didn't want that.

But at the same time, Bickslow knew that he needed to talk to Erik. He didn't want to, but he needed to. Even if he didn't really know what he was supposed to say, he could at least let Erik know that he didn't hate him, because Bickslow knew that was what Erik would be assuming. He wasn't half as cold or emotionless as he let everyone believe, as Bickslow had come to learn. He cared, and he cared a lot. Erik would be beating himself up for what had happened, and as much as it hurt and it all sucked, Bickslow didn't really want that for him.

He lifted his hand from where it sat behind Apollo's ear, mindlessly rubbing his fur, and checked the time.  _Erik should be home by now_. He finished late on a Thursday, at nine instead of five, but it was close to ten and Bickslow knew that his boyfriend didn't really go anywhere other than work, the state library, the grocery store, or his house to visit whenever he could.

Bickslow got up from the lounge to take Apollo outside, quickly making sure he had food and water and then shaking off the dried grass from the ratty, old blanket before folding it up and placing it on Apollo's bed for him. "I'll be back soon," he said, rubbing Apollo's head, only to get barked at and jumped up on. Bickslow didn't have time for playtime though, so he only shook his head, told Apollo to go and lay down, and was then ducking back inside to grab his keys and be on his way.

When Bickslow knocked on the chipped apartment door a little while later, Erik had been utterly surprised. But then his face had quickly fallen when he thought about just why Bickslow was standing outside his door at 10 p.m. Bickslow wasn't even able to get a word in, or a foot in the door, before Erik looked down at mumbled, "You don't need to say it. Don't worry. I get it."

He'd seen that coming a mile away. Of course Bickslow would want to break up with him after that. Any sane person would do that. Erik just wished it hadn't had to come to that.

Bickslow blinked, mumbling, "Wait, what?" That's usually not how people answered the door, as far as he knew.

Erik sighed and continued looking down. "I know why you're here, and it's fine, I get it," he repeated. "Just… You don't need to say it. I know that you're just going to say that you don't want to be with me anymore and—"

"Oh, for the love of god…" Bickslow dropped his head to rub his hand across his forehead. Erik really thought that he was there to break up with him. It made sense, now that he thought about it, but… No. He definitely wasn't there to break up with the guy. "Erik, dude, just shut up. Seriously."

He opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it again when he found he didn't even know what he was supposed to say.

"…Are you going to let me in?" Bickslow asked after an awkward moment.

Erik finally moved, nodding as he stepped out of the way to let Bickslow in. He was still convinced Bickslow was going to break up with him, so he was reluctant to let Bickslow in to let him say what he actually wanted to say, but he did it anyway. He let the door close softly behind him, and he'd been about to ask if Bickslow maybe wanted anything before he sat down, but he didn't get a chance to do so before he had Bickslow quickly wrapping his arms around him.

Erik froze for a moment. Bickslow was never one for too much contact, even when he was the one to initiate it. There were moments, of course, but for the most part, he didn't particularly enjoy it, despite how much he joked about it. Erik didn't really care either way. But right then, Bickslow hugging him so tightly that his arms were actually beginning to hurt where they were squeezed against his sides, only made him want to cry for some reason. And Erik kind of hated that.

Bickslow kept hugging him tightly as he said softly, "I've kind of missed you." Even if it had really just been a week, and he was still so mad at him for what had happened, he'd still missed Erik. He'd gotten used to having him around all of the time over the last few months.

Erik pulled himself away quickly, sniffling and looking away again. "Yeah, w-well… I… I missed you too…" he admittedly shamefully.

"Can I sit?" Bickslow asked. Erik nodded after a moment, and Bickslow sat himself down on one end the short sofa while Erik reluctantly followed. Bickslow wasn't quite sure how to begin for a moment, but he'd expected that to happen. So, instead, he just said exactly what he needed to say: "I don't hate you."

Erik scoffed, pulling his knees up to rest his chin on his arms. "Yeah, sure."

"I don't. I mean that, Erik."

"Well, you should hate me," Erik mumbled. "I killed your dog.  _I_  hate me."

Bickslow bit his tongue. He wasn't completely wrong, as horrible as it sounded. And granted, Erik hadn't personally done it, but he had been the one to unintentionally cause it, so it was close enough. But as much as Bickslow still wanted to hate him for that, the last thing he wanted was Erik hating himself for it.

"Don't hate yourself for it," Bickslow whispered. "It was an accident."

"Doesn't matter."

"It does matter. You didn't mean to do it. I know that. And I don't… I don't want you hating yourself for it, Erik. That's not fair."

Erik scoffed. Of course it wasn't fair. Life wasn't fair. But he'd caused a shitty thing and now Erik had to deal with the consequences of it. "So you want me to forgive myself? That's basically what you're saying, right?"

Bickslow nodded. "Yes, it is."

"So that means you forgive me."

"No," Bickslow said. He hated having to admit that, but he didn't want to lie to Erik. And, since he knew that Erik was just going to want to yell at him about how stupid it sounded, Bickslow was quick to continue, "I probably won't ever forgive you for it, but I won't ever hate you. It was an accident, and if  _I_  can accept that, then you need to be able to as well."

And, to Erik, it really did sound completely ridiculous. How the hell was he supposed to be able to forgive himself when Bickslow had just admitted that he would never be able to forgive him for it? Erik wasn't sure he wanted to stick around, knowing that Bickslow would always resent him for it.

"You're fucking insane, Bix," Erik muttered. "Telling me to get over myself when you're still going to hate me for it. Seriously?"

"I'm not—" Bickslow sighed into his hand. How frustrating he knew Erik would be right then was definitely part of the reason he hadn't wanted to talk to him. But, as ridiculous and stupid as it all was, Bickslow still knew that it needed to be done, so he was going to be persevere. "Erik, I don't hate you. I'll probably never hate you."

"But you won't forgive me. That's literally the same fucking thing as hating me!"

"…It isn't. It really isn't." At least, Bickslow didn't think it was. He couldn't hate Erik for a mistake. He was incapable of doing that. He turned sideways on the cushions just to face Erik easier, reaching up to pull his arms from atop his knees so he would look at him, even if it was just for a moment. "Look, dude, I'm so fucking pissed at you. I really am," Bickslow began, ignoring just how horrible he felt right then for having to admit that. "I'm not going to forget what happened. I don't think anyone would. And, sure, I'll agree with you and say that it was kind of your fault, but I know it was an accident. I know you're sorry. I can't hate you for that. I really can't. But…"

"But you still won't forgive me," Erik mumbled.

Bickslow shook his head. "Not completely, no." He'd move on from it, sure, but that was really it. Bickslow doubted there would ever be a time where he'd forget what Erik had caused, and that just meant that there would always be a part of him that would never forgive him.

And, unsurprisingly, Erik was still confused as all hell. In his book, not having Bickslow's forgiveness just meant Bickslow hated him. Part of him really wanted to believe Bickslow when he said that he didn't hate him, but another part of him just thought that the guy was somehow in denial. Erik would want to  _murder_  Bickslow had it been reversed.

But, then again, Bickslow was a better person than he was. Maybe that was why he didn't hate him.

Either way, Erik just didn't know. He wanted to understand it, but he just… He couldn't. He doubted he'd understand it anytime soon, either.

Sniffling again, Erik just glanced back to Bickslow watching him carefully and quietly asked, "Why are you even here? Was it just to tell me that you wouldn't forgive me?"

Bickslow frowned again. "W-Well, no. I mean yes."

"Yes?"

"I don't know, to be honest," Bickslow sighed. "I just… I needed to tell you that I didn't hate you for it, because I knew that was what you were thinking. And I really do mean it when I say I don't want you hating yourself or feeling guilty for it. It was… It was a mistake. People make mistakes. It's part of being human."

Erik hugged his knees back to his chest. It still didn't really matter that it had been an accident, because it had still happened at all and he'd ended up hurting one of the people he cared about most. Still, Erik wasn't too sure if he'd be able to stop feeling so guilty for what he'd caused if Bickslow was never going to forgive him. It seemed like a waste of time.

But, what Erik was really wondering now, was if Bickslow could stand to be with him anymore. He kind of doubted it. Bickslow was probably just there to make him feel better because he was a good person. And Erik was almost too scared to actually ask Bickslow what he wanted now, but… He knew he'd worry more if he didn't ask.

"So… Does all of that mean you still want to try and work things out or something? With us, I mean?" Erik asked quietly, still hiding his face somewhat against his arms, mostly just to hide the red staining his cheeks. "B-Because, I understand—"

"Yes,  _god_  yes," Bickslow quickly said. Erik glanced back to him and Bickslow couldn't really help but let out a nervous chuckle. So, maybe he'd been just a little excited, but Bickslow really hadn't wanted to break up with Erik. Not then, and probably not for a while, either. He scooted closer to Erik on the lounge again and let his arm fall over Erik's shoulders, resting his forehead against Erik's temple as he whispered, "I told you I missed you, didn't I? I don't like it when you're not around."

"Do you really mean that?"

"I don't like lying, Erik," Bickslow pointed out. "Of course I mean it."

"But… You're not going to forgive me for letting Elsa get out…" Erik mumbled. "How are you going to even be with me when there's always going to be  _that_ …"

Bickslow gave a small shrug. He hadn't thought about that yet, but it was a fair question. "I'll figure something out." That was just what Bickslow did. And even then, Bickslow was always inclined to do his best to make something work if it meant a lot to him, and Erik was no exception. "What about you, though?" Bickslow asked, lifting his head to look at Erik again. "Do you want to try and get back to normal?"

Erik couldn't think of anything nicer.

* * *

It took some time, but things eventually got back to something resembling normal. As much as Bickslow had wanted to stay with Erik, it had still taken him a little while after talking to him to actually be comfortable enough to be around him as usual. Erik had understood that, so he'd never really pushed it.

For the most part though, Erik still had some doubts about whether things would end up working out, especially with Bickslow admitting that he'd never truly forgive him, but Erik had done his best to be optimistic for once. He'd never really been one for optimism until he'd started dating Bickslow.

After a while though, once things had settled down, and Erik went back to spending way too much time at Bickslow's house rather than in his own apartment, he hadn't been able to help but notice something. Bickslow with just Apollo following him around all the time, and taking up all the room on the bed… It didn't seem right to Erik. He'd gotten so used to Bickslow having two balls of fur at his heels all the time, that the idea of Bickslow just having one dog seemed so wrong.

Of course though, Erik knew that was his fault.

Still though, there came a time where Erik just couldn't handle it anymore. So that was how he ended up taking a trip to the city pound one weekend. Bickslow needed another dog, and Erik was going to be stupid enough to go and get him one.

Later, he was knocking on Bickslow's door, the leash in his hand attached to the over-excited tan-and-white pitbull-cross. He usually just let himself in, but he knew Apollo would be inside and he didn't really want to risk the dogs fighting. A moment later, Bickslow opened up the door, and he'd been about to ask if Erik had forgotten his key when he looked down and saw the dog standing next to him on the pavement, and he quickly stepped out just to greet the four-legged friend.

"Oh, hello! Aren't you gorgeous!" He was grinning ear to ear as he crouched down in front of the dog, rubbing its head and its ears and trying to stay balanced as the dog licked at his face and tried climbing up into his lap. "Who's this?" Bickslow asked, continuing to pat the affectionate animal.

"Ruby," Erik answered.

"Well, you're very pretty, Ruby. Are you going to sit? Oh, good girl!" Bickslow scratched Ruby's chin when she sat down, and her tail wagged quickly along the ground. Bickslow had always been fond of pitbulls. He'd considered getting one when he'd first gotten Elsa, and later Apollo, but he'd just never gotten around it. Still, they were such gentle creatures and Bickslow always enjoyed being able to pat one whenever he could. Right then though, Bickslow only wanted to know why Erik had Ruby, because the last he'd checked, the guy hated dogs, so there was no way Ruby was Erik's dog. "So, uh… Did you steal her or something?"

"No, I did not, thank you," Erik grumbled. He twisted the handle of the leash in his hands. He was too scared to let go of it in case she ran off onto the road. It was doubtful, especially while she seemed far too happy getting her chin scratched by Bickslow, but Erik still worried.

"So what's the deal then?"

"Well… I, uh..." Erik shifted uncomfortably on his feet. This was the part he hadn't really thought out. And right then, he was beginning to think he'd just gone and done the stupidest thing on the planet. Still, he couldn't exactly lie now. He had no choice but to tell Bickslow the truth. "I just kept thinking…" he began, looking down at his feet as he kicked a small piece of stone towards the small garden by the door. "That you with just  _one_  dog didn't seem right."

"Oh?"

"So… So I, um… I went to the pound and adopted Ruby… Because I know you said before Elsa died, that you wouldn't get another puppy if you got another dog. You'd adopt one because they need homes more…"

"So you got me a dog," Bickslow surmised.

Erik was still making a point of looking elsewhere, so he didn't get to see Bickslow's grin that was permanently affixed to his face at that point. "I guess so," he mumbled. "She's, um… She's desexed, do you don't have to worry about puppies and all that. And… And she gets along well with other dogs apparently, so I guess she'd be fine with Apollo, too…" He held the leash out to Bickslow then. "The people at the pound said she'd been there for ages though, so she's probably going to take a few days to settle down or something."

"I see…" Bickslow took the leash just to unclip it from the chain-link collar. He had no doubts about her running off. Admittedly though, he hadn't really wanted another dog. Not right then, at least. But he'd definitely keep Ruby. How could he not when she looked at him with those big brown eyes? He could tell she had a lot of love to give, and Bickslow had even more love to give her back. Still, he only had one condition to keeping her. And letting out a sigh, he looked back up to Erik and said, "Well, I love her already. But, she's not going to be my dog."

"Oh…" That was what Erik had been worried about. He knew it had been a stupid idea.  _Damn it._  "I guess I should've expected that… I'm sor—"

"She can be  _our_  dog," Bickslow said.

Erik finally looked to his boyfriend crouching down beside him, still petting the dog. " _Our_ … dog?"

He nodded. "Yep! I mean, I'll look after her and all, but I want her to be your dog too." Of course though, if Erik really was against it, then Bickslow would still keep the dog and look after her. But they'd been together long enough that Bickslow was sure they could have a pet together.

And, Erik couldn't really contain the blush creeping up on his cheeks. He didn't really seem the mind the idea of owning a pet with Bickslow, even if it was an annoying, over-affectionate dog.

* * *


	7. Wicked

"So… How exactly do you propose we take down Fairy Tail?" Meredy asked as she peered at the Fioran map laid out in front of them all. "Because we can't just waltz in there like we do with everyone else. We'll die."

"I know that," Jellal said. Oh, he knew that well. "We need a plan for them."

"Well… Wasn't that obvious?" Racer pointed out, and Jellal only scowled at him before turning his attention back to the map.

For Fairy Tail to be taken down once and for all, they needed a plan, one that was well thought out and held no room for error. They would need to think out every possible scenario to pull it off, too, because if anything went wrong, then they'd all be meeting their ends just a little sooner than expected.

Fairy Tail just wasn't a guild they could deal with like any old dark guild. No, they were different. They were meaner and bigger, probably the biggest of any legal  _or_  dark guild in Fiore, and there was a reason they were still around after all that time. While every other dark guild around them turned to ashes and dust, Fairy Tail always stood strong. They were a force to be reckoned with, and Jellal had avoided them for long enough.

"We need to be smart about this," Jellal mused.

Cobra couldn't help but roll his eye at him. As if they weren't smart when it came to every other guild. Granted, with the smaller ones (and sometimes, the larger ones), they really did just walk right in the front door to kick their asses, and half of the time they all just stood back and let Jellal deal with them on his own because they didn't really need to help. But still, it wasn't like they were  _never_  smart about how they took down guilds. It just… wasn't very often.

"So what do you suggest we do, oh wise leader?" Cobra drawled.

"I haven't figured that out yet."

"Of course not." That would just be too easy. And since Jellal hadn't come up with a plan yet, Cobra had no intentions of sticking around to wait. Besides, it'd mostly likely weeks before they had any kind of solid plan for taking down Fairy Tail, so there wasn't any need for him to stick around right then. For the most part, Cobra didn't really care what their plan ended up involving either, so he didn't really care to be a part of the planning of it. So, Cobra pulled himself up from where he'd been lounging on the creaking mattress in the corner of the small room, and said, "Well, since I have no interest in being a part of this conversation, I'm going for a walk."

No one questioned it or really acknowledged it, just as Cobra had expected – it wasn't the first time he'd done it – so he was free to leave as he pleased. As he closed the room door behind himself, he just made out Meredy suggesting that they should scout out the town and see just how far the guild's influence went first. Even Cobra had to admit it was a smart starting point.

They didn't usually stay in any kind of motel, just because it was money they couldn't usually spare, and they couldn't risk being recognised. That time, however, they were, just because they'd accepted that they'd be needing to stay for a while, so they might as well be somewhat comfortable. Fortunately though, the inn they'd chosen was perfect for criminals like them, located deep in the woods between Onibus and Magnolia, and with an owner who didn't really give a shit who he let in the door as long as he got paid.

Still, as stingy as the inn was, there were still other guests, and Cobra couldn't get the peace he often preferred while sitting in a small, damp room with the rest of his own guild while also knowing exactly what the occupants of the room next door had been doing.

Leaving the borderline decrepit building behind, Cobra steered off the path and straight into the dense woods. It was dark from the thick foliage, but Cobra continued on, stepping over shrubs and snapping branches under his feet. The smell of moss and pine was welcoming, as was the relative silence. He could hear the birds and the wind and the rustling of leaves deeper in the woods from the ground-dwelling creatures, but it was tolerable.

Cobra wasn't even sure where he was going as he continued to wander aimlessly through the shrubbery. They were closer to Magnolia than they were Onibus, so for all Cobra knew, he could end up overlooking the town in which Fairy Tail resided. He doubted he'd walk that far, but it was possible.

After a while, the dense shrubbery grew sparse, and Cobra could just make out some kind of clearing up ahead. What intrigued him the most, though, was that he heard a voice. He could only just make it out, but Cobra swore he'd heard someone say, "No, don't steal it from your brother. Wait, here, there you go." Cobra could only hear one voice though, so he knew the man wasn't talking to another person.

His curiosity got the better of him though, and instead of avoiding the clearing and just carrying on his way, Cobra headed straight for it. He crept through the woods until he was standing just on the edge of the clearing but still hidden in the shadows, and peered out from behind one wide tree and to the man sitting in the middle of the small field, and feeding a scurry of squirrels straight out of his hands.

He wore almost all black bar the metal embellishments on the vambraces on his arms, and the lining on the edges of his cloak. The cloak had black fur around the neck, and even the hood he had pushed down was solid black, a stark contrast to the two-toned cobalt of his hair.

A branch snapped under Cobra's weight as he leant forward slightly, and he froze. The man looked up and right towards him, and for a moment Cobra thought he'd been spotted.

"I know you're there," the man with the blue hair said, looking back down to the baby squirrel crawling up into his lap to get to the chopped fruits in the bag. "You might as well come out." Cobra still couldn't tell if that meant the man really had seen him and become aware of his presence. He liked to think that if he left quietly, the man feeding the squirrels would just think he was some kind of animal wandering through the woods. But then the man said, "Seriously, I knew you were watching me…"

He'd been aware of the other's presence the entire time. He'd simply seen no reason to acknowledge it, not until the sound had given him away.

Cobra scowled at the man. He could see the smirk on the man's lips from where he stood, and he felt the urge to wipe it off his face. Still, now he couldn't just leave, so slowly, he stepped forward, out of the shadows of the forest and into the light.

The man looked back up with a wide grin as one squirrel scurried up his arm to his shoulder. "So do you have a name?" he asked.

Why he was asking for his name, Cobra had no idea. But he answered anyway, "Cobra."

"Like the snake?"

"Yes, like the fucking snake," Cobra snapped. He wasn't entirely sure what else it could be. "You?"

"Bickslow."

Cobra nodded once, standing awkwardly just on the edge of the clearing and looking around at everything he could before he caved and looked back to Bickslow. Cobra wasn't entirely sure why he was still standing there, but the whole squirrel thing was making him far too curious for his own good, and he just couldn't bring himself to leave.

"So, do you, uh…" Cobra cleared his throat as he nodded towards the fluffy creatures circling the man. "Do you do this often?"

Bickslow chuckled quietly to himself, reaching into the small bag for some more of the fruit – that time, a handful of strawberries that he sat in his extended palm for the squirrels to take one by one. "Whenever I can," he answered. He used to do it every day, but he hadn't the time to lately. "They're such pleasant little creatures."

"They're pests."

"They are not!"

"They are lovely. You take that back, little snake."

Cobra raised an eyebrow at the man scooping up the surrounding squirrels and bringing them under the safety of his cloak. "Little snake? Who the fuck are you calling  _little snake_?"

"You, obviously," Bickslow scoffed. He really had thought was clear. Still, Cobra had insulted his squirrels, and that just wasn't acceptable. Cobra was lucky he was in a good mood that day, otherwise Bickslow might've just added another soul to his immortal troupe.

Cobra, for once, decided it wasn't worth arguing with the man. He was clearly looking for some kind of fight, and Cobra just couldn't be bothered. Besides, the guy was feeding and cuddling (and talking to) the fucking  _squirrels_. He obviously had a few screws loose in his head, and in Cobra's experience, it was never worth trying to deal with those kinds of people.

Shaking his head, Cobra shoved a hand in the pocket of his coat while waving dismissively with the other, turning on his heels to head back the way he'd came. "Whatever, man," he mumbled. "Have fun with the tiny fleabags."

"I will. Run along now, little snake," Bickslow snickered, and then went back to hand feeding the little squirrels as Cobra left, only frowning when the two brothers of the scurry decided to fight each other for a piece of apple.

* * *

The rain was heavy and warm and not at all refreshing. Bickslow's clothes stuck to him and his cloak was heavier than usual. As far as he could tell, the rain wasn't letting up anytime soon, which meant he had no hope in hell of getting to the guild. Erza wouldn't be happy, and Bickslow knew his team wouldn't be either.

A few new stores had popped up in Magnolia over the last few weeks, and Bickslow was supposed to be heading out with the rest of his merry team to show the new owners just who it was that ran that town. Freed and Evergreen could do it on their own with no problems; Freed on his own was a force to be reckoned with, and Bickslow still had a hard time believing that he'd once been a member of a light guild.

Still… Erza had given them  _all_  a task, and it didn't matter if it got done at all. She liked things being done her way and  _only_  that way. There was a reason she'd risen to leader of the guild, other than the fact she'd beheaded and murdered anyone who had stood in her path of becoming Master of Fairy Tail. It was because she was ruthless and she was terrifying and she literally cut down anyone who got in her way or even disobeyed her. No one was stupid enough to say no to her anymore.

With the rain though, Bickslow knew it wasn't even worth  _trying_  to get back to Magnolia. The storm was only bound to get worse, and even with one of his closest friends using lightning magic, Bickslow still wasn't the biggest fan of storms. Lightning he could deal with, mostly because of Laxus, but with lightning came thunder and Bickslow hated thunder.

He kept his babies hidden under his cloak to keep them somewhat dry as he hurried through the woods. The rain was so heavy that not even the thick canopies above could keep him from being completely drenched. The thin rivulets of water running down the slats of his visor just had him unclipping it from his hood quickly to tuck it into a pocket. Bickslow knew there was supposed to be a series of caves nearby, so that was where he was heading. It would be cold and dark, but Bickslow would take that over staying in the rain any day.

He finally reached the mouth of the first cave just as the rain grew even heavier, and he could just make out the flash of lightning overhead. Bickslow didn't waste any time in ducking inside to escape the weather. He barely made it three feet into the small cave before he was thrown up against the jagged wall and a hand was wrapped tightly around his throat; Bickslow was almost certain he felt  _talons_  digging in and piercing through the fabric around his neck.

The babies in their wooden bodies flew out from beneath his cloak and his eyes glowed the same iridescent green that surrounded the floating dolls. His magic swelled and Bickslow could already feel the control of his supposed attacker fading, but he failed to take the man over before he heard, "What the fuck are  _you_  doing here?"

Bickslow blinked once, brows creasing as he managed to look to the face hovering just in front of his own. The grip around his neck loosened. "Wait…  _Cobra_?" His eyes returned back to the deep scarlet as the shorter man took a step back, pulling his hand away with him. Bickslow recognised him from the clearing a few weeks earlier, but he hadn't exactly ever expected to run into the man again. Now here he was again, pinning him against a fucking cave wall (although if it had under different circumstances, Bickslow probably wouldn't have cared much).

It had taken Cobra a moment to recognise Bickslow, since the glow from his eyes and the…  _floating things_  had been so bright they casted more shadows than anything, but it had ultimately been the figure-shaped tattoo across his face that had given his identity away. It was a memorable and recognisable marking, that was for sure.

But Bickslow having recognised  _him_  just seemed to rub him the wrong way. He only shrugged slightly as he pulled his still damp sleeve back down over the fading purple scales on the top of his arm. "Didn't know it was you," he mumbled weakly. "Sorry, I guess." Although it wasn't entirely a true apology, since he was sure he had nothing to apologise for. All he knew about Bickslow was that he fed the damn squirrels. They weren't even acquaintances.

Bickslow lifted his own hand to rub at his throat. He hadn't been after an apology, but he'd take it anyway. "Yeah, well… Thanks for not strangling me," Bickslow replied. Even his thanks weren't true, but that was beside the point.

Cobra was well aware of Bickslow following him deeper into the cave, back to where he'd been biding his time in peace, but he ignored it until he sat back down in front of the small fire he'd managed to build not much earlier. "So? What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked.

Bickslow looked around at the cave before he invited himself to sit down on the opposite side to Cobra. It looked like a normal cave as far as he could tell in the limited light the fire gave – he even saw a menacing looking spider crawling up one wall that he made a mental note to stay away from – but that didn't help Bickslow understand why Cobra was there. "Do you live here or something?"

"No, I don't fucking live here," Cobra snapped. "Stop avoiding my question."

Bickslow tried not to roll his eyes at the man. "Well, what the hell do you think I'm doing here? There's a giant ass storm out there, if you haven't noticed, and strangely enough, I have no interest in staying out there in it," he said. Honestly, he'd thought it was obvious, considering he was drenched from head to toe. Perhaps he'd just given Cobra more credit that he deserved.

Cobra could only scoff under his breath as he made a point of ignoring Bickslow. He'd assumed it was because of the storm, so he couldn't care less about asking why Bickslow had been out in the woods again anyway. He'd probably been feeding the damn squirrels.

Until the weather cleared, they would just have to deal with each other. Cobra would've preferred to be alone, as usual – which was exactly why  _he'd_  been out in the woods again – but it'd be fine as long as Bickslow kept to himself. When the weather cleared, they could just go their separate ways and assume they'd never see each other again.

Bickslow merely went about pulling off his cloak to lay it out on the ground, just so he wasn't stuck wearing it, and pulled the babies into his lap to pat them like small animals. The only sound echoing in the small cave was the crackle of the fire, as well as the errant thoughts resonating from Bickslow's soul, but Cobra did his best to ignore the latter. Only he could hear it anyway. But then there was the loud boom of thunder just overhead, and Bickslow flinched so hard that even Cobra noticed it.

"Storm scary, storm scary!" the babies said in small voices.

Bickslow shook his head and pulled them all in tighter against his chest, bringing his knees up to hide them. "Not now, babies…" he whispered. He knew why they were saying it, and what they were trying to do, but Bickslow didn't want it right then. Not while he wasn't alone.

Cobra wasn't quite sure what it meant (or even what the fuck the talking things were supposed to be), but he went back to minding his own business anyway. That was, until, the thunder was heard again, just a few ticks after the lightning flashed and lit up the mouth of the cave for just a second, and Bickslow flinched again, only ducking his head closer to his knees and wrapping his arms tighter around herself. And Cobra realised then, that the man was scared of thunder.

"You're scared of thunder, aren't you?" Cobra said.

"Shut up, no I'm not," Bickslow quickly mumbled. That would just be pathetic. A grown man like him afraid of thunder? Oh no. That wasn't him.

The gods apparently disagreed, making him flinch and cower again with the crack of thunder outside the cave.

Cobra might've laughed had he been a few years younger, but he wasn't going to then. Everyone had their fears, as irrational as some may be. Cobra could avoid  _his_  biggest fear, though. Bickslow, however, couldn't. Not really, at least.

And if he was going to be stuck in a small, dark cave with the guy, Cobra figured he might as well try and distract him. At least until the storm cleared some and the thunder stopped, but even then, Cobra didn't expect it to last for long because it never did.

"So why were you out here?" Cobra asked. "Feeding the fucking vermin again?"

"You mean the squirrels?" Bickslow only lifted his gaze to look to Cobra opposite the fire. "They're not vermin, and yes." He'd wanted to go check on them and give them a little fruit. He'd known the weather would be miserable that day and the rest of the week, but getting caught in it hadn't been part of his plan. Thankfully, his little squirrel friends would be safe in a hollow tree somewhere, or so Bickslow hoped. "What about you?"

Cobra shrugged. "I like to walk." He really just liked being alone, but he liked to walk places, too. Forests were always peaceful so that was usually where he ended up. And with Jellal and the rest of Crime Sorcière finalising their plan to take down Fairy Tail, Cobra had really just need some peace and quiet. He still didn't really care much for knowing the specifics of the master plan just yet.

"Right…"

"So what about those things?" Cobra asked then. He wasn't usually that chatty, not even close, but if he wanted to be distracting then he had to be chatty. Besides, he couldn't deny that he was just a tiny bit intrigued by Bickslow. He pointed to Bickslow's chest where he still had the babies tucked against him. "The flying things that were glowing before. They talked. What are they?"

"Oh…" Bickslow looked down at them for a moment. No one really asked about the babies… Most of the questions were about him when anyone did bother asking. "They're… They're souls," he answered.

"Souls?"

"Lost souls. Most people kind of pass on when they die, but it doesn't always happen so their souls get stuck wandering the earth," Bickslow explained. "But… I can control them and put them into bodies"—he lifted up one of the small totems for Cobra to see—"so then I can actually use them."

The fact they were souls suddenly made sense to Cobra. He wasn't sure what he'd been hearing the entire time Bickslow had been there – it had been more of a buzzing than anything – but now he knew it had been the lost souls he controlled.

"So you're a mage then?" Cobra surmised, and Bickslow nodded.

"I'm guessing you are as well judging by the whole scales and claws thing going on." He'd caught a glimpse of Cobra's arm when he'd stepped back from him before, and Bickslow knew for certain that wasn't normal. Not unless he was a mage, of course.

"Yeah, well…" Cobra shrugged. He had no interest in talking about himself. He was still trying to distract Bickslow, and getting him to talk was probably the best way to do so. Plus, he was still curious about the souls he seemed to control, as well as a few other things. "What about the glowing thing before?" he asked.

"They do that when they're going to attack someone," Bickslow mumbled.

"Your eyes were glowing too, though."

"Ah, yeah…"

"What's that about then?"

Bickslow seemed to curl in on himself even more, enough that even Cobra noticed and wondered if he'd actually said something wrong.

His magic had led to him doing some things he wasn't proud of. Once, he could do those things without losing a second of sleep. He could hurt someone and think it had been a good day. He could torture someone and still go out with the rest of his team later and joke about what they'd done. He could kill someone without a single bit of hesitation.

And he'd done it all countless times. He'd stopped counting just how many people he'd hurt just for fun, or killed just because he thought they deserved it, or even because he'd been told to do it. Once, the numbers just hadn't meant anything, because it had been his job to do all of those things.

Now though, he was beginning to reach the point where those numbers haunted him. He couldn't help but wonder sometimes if he'd even done the right thing for all those times he had hurt someone. Deep down, Bickslow knew it hadn't been, but as the days passed, and the number of people he'd hurt grew higher and higher, the more he began to accept that he was the wicked person his nightmares showed him to be.

Still, even if the questions were usually about him and not the babies, it still didn't happen very often. And right then, when he was already beginning to question just why it was he'd done the things he'd done, Bickslow wasn't even sure if he should bother telling Cobra what his magic allowed him to do.

But, Cobra was essentially a stranger, so it wasn't exactly like Bickslow had much to worry about anyway. The worst that could happen was that Cobra would run out screaming because he was scared of being turned into a human puppet – although really, Bickslow doubted that would happen anyway.

"I can… take control of someone's soul. Make them do what I want," Bickslow admitted. He reached for his cloak laid out beside him just to pull his metal visor back out and lift it up for Cobra to see. "I usually wear this stupid thing just because people have this ridiculous notion that they can't actually look at me without me taking their soul."

"I'm assuming that's not the case."

"Oh, little snake has a brain," he smirked. "Of course it's not the fucking case. You're looking at me right now, and surprise, surprise, I'm not in control of your fucking soul." Cobra glared at him with his one eye and Bickslow only let out a sigh, shaking his head as he dropped the metal visor back down and returned to hugging his legs to his chest. Softly, he continued, "It only happens when I want it to, and there's no way for someone to escape it. It only ends if I let it."

"So? Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Let it end."

"…Not as much as I should," Bickslow answered.

Cobra thought the man's magic was interesting, from what he'd quickly learnt of it. Being able to control someone's soul was an interesting ability to have. He assumed Bickslow could see souls as well, and that on its own was something Cobra found fascinating. Still, Bickslow didn't need to say what he did when he didn't let go of a person's soul. Cobra could already tell what the answer was, and he couldn't even judge Bickslow for it.

It'd make him a hypocrite if he judged Bickslow for what he'd done.

The thunder boomed again in the silence, and Cobra frowned when he watched Bickslow flinch and shiver. Distracting Bickslow was easier than he cared to admit. It was easy to  _talk_  to Bickslow. It was just that for the most part, Cobra wasn't entirely sure what to say.

After considering it for a moment, only staring at the fire in front of him, Cobra got up from where he sat just to go and sit down next to Bickslow. He nodded down to where one of the small wooden tikis was peeking out from between his chest and his knees, and said, "Tell me more about those things."

* * *

It hadn't taken Bickslow very long to realise that Cobra had been trying to distract him from the storm, and while he hadn't wanted to admit that he was indeed scared of the thunder, he'd appreciated what Cobra had done.

He'd managed to learn a little about Cobra in the man's effort to distract him. Mostly, Bickslow had just learnt that they had a fair few things in common. His favourite bit of knowledge was that they both had magic relating to souls. He could see them, control them, and even destroy them if he really wanted to; but Cobra could  _hear_  them. Bickslow thought that was the better magic to have.

He'd learnt that Cobra could use Dragon Slayer magic too, in the same way that Laxus could, and that, Bickslow had only pitied Cobra for. Laxus had told them all just once how the day his father had put that lacrima in him had been the worst day of his life. He'd learnt that neither one of them could remember their parents, and that their birthdays were just a few days apart as well, although Bickslow was four years older.

But, with how much they'd had in common, Bickslow hadn't had any problems with forgetting about the thunder, even if it had just been for a little while. Unfortunately though, the storm cleared all too quickly, and Bickslow almost wished that he wasn't having to head back to the guild.

His clothes had mostly dried by the time the rain had stopped outside, or at least it had stopped enough that Bickslow could go back out and get into town. His cloak was still damp, but it was better than it weighing a ton from being completely drenched. "Well, I guess the weather has finally cleared up now," Bickslow mumbled, picking himself up from the ground and shaking the dirt off his cloak.

"Yeah, about time," Cobra agreed half-heartedly.

Bickslow watched the babies float around Cobra's head as they headed back to the mouth of the cave together, and couldn't help the way his lips turned up into a small smile when Pippi decided to sit itself on top of Cobra's head and nestle amongst his hair. They could be annoying little fuckers, even Bickslow knew that, but Cobra was probably one of the only people he'd ever met that hadn't absolutely hated the babies at the very start. He'd almost slapped Pappa into the fire at one point, but Bickslow could tell that Cobra didn't mind them.

"So…" Bickslow looked out to the forest beyond the cave for a moment, watching as droplets rolled off the leaves of the trees and as the small animals inhabiting the trees slowly emerged. Birds chirped in the distance, and looking up, Bickslow could see just a little bit of sunlight peeking through the grey clouds. "Where are you off to now?" he asked, turning his attention back to Cobra.

He gave a small shrug. He supposed he'd just head back to the inn. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go. "Just back to my room, I suppose."

"Your room? You mean at an inn?" Bickslow asked. Cobra nodded. "Oh. You're not from around here then." That explained why he hadn't run into Cobra in town before. He felt like he would've known if someone like Cobra had decided to move to Magnolia. "What brings you to this neck of the woods then?"

"…Work," Cobra admitted. It wasn't a lie. "I'll be leaving soon, though."

"I see…" Bickslow almost felt… disappointed. He tried to ignore it. "Well, little snake—"

"Stop fucking calling me that."

"Right. Sorry…"

Cobra stared down at a loose thread on the sleeve of his coat before he said quietly, "It's Erik." He usually didn't like telling people his name, not unless he liked them. And Bickslow… Cobra liked Bickslow. Why, he wasn't entirely sure, but he found him interesting. Plus, if the man knew his actual name, then Cobra liked to think it would stop Bickslow from calling him  _little snake_.

Then again, Cobra supposed it didn't matter much anyway since in another couple of weeks, he'd be gone and would probably never see Bickslow again anyway. He liked to think though, that had his life been normal, and had he still managed to meet Bickslow, that they might've been something close to friends.

"I thought it was Cobra," Bickslow said.

"It is. Erik's my real name."

"Erik," Bickslow whispered. It rolled off his tongue comfortably. "I like it."

Cobra glanced back up to see Bickslow with a wide grin on his face. It would've been infectious had his tongue not been sticking out of his mouth as well, but even that on its own wasn't what disturbed Cobra. It was the black mark on his tongue that looked all too much like the Fairy Tail symbol.

He stepped back slightly – not out of fear, but more out of panic. "You're… a Fairy Tail mage?"

Bickslow's grin fell in an instant. He might've been proud of that once, but he wasn't so much anymore. He knew how they were feared. He knew how the town and everyone in it saw them. And he knew that Cobra's reaction wasn't a positive one. "Uh, yeah…" he mumbled. "Kind of…"

"Kind of?"

"I am."

Cobra supposed that was what he got for not having any interest in Jellal's plans. He might've actually known about a few of the guild's members if he'd been part of it all. But now Cobra wasn't sure what he was supposed to think. That wasn't supposed to have happened. He wasn't supposed to have talked to any of them.

If Jellal knew he'd become acquainted with one of the Fairies, then he'd change his entire plan just to try and take the guild down from the inside instead. He'd make Cobra be the person to do it, and Cobra already knew that he didn't want that.

Still though, as much as a tiny part of him had been dreading the storm ending, Cobra was now only entirely glad that it was over. "I… I need to get back," he quickly said then, leaving Bickslow behind in the cave as fast as he could.

Bickslow only watched with an eyebrow raised before he shrugged it off and decided it was time for him to leave as well. He wasn't entirely sure what had come over Cobra so suddenly (though he had his suspicions), but he supposed it didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things.

"Like Erik, like Erik!" the babies chirped as they all fell into place around Bickslow's head.

"Oh, I bet you do, babies," Bickslow laughed. They liked having new friends to play with. And for the most part, so did Bickslow. He just thought it was a shame he'd probably never get to say thanks to Cobra for keeping him distracted.

* * *

Cobra purposefully went out to the clearing every morning for a week just in the hopes that he would see Bickslow there again. For five days, he had no luck. But on the sixth day, there Bickslow was, sitting in the middle of the sunny clearing and feeding the squirrels. Cobra felt vaguely sick, he was that nervous to see the mage, and it was a feeling he loathed.

At the crack of branches coming from the forest, Bickslow faced the direction the sound had come from. Seeing Cobra slowly emerging from the woods, ducking under a low-hanging branch and heading towards him had a wide grin splitting Bickslow's face. "I didn't think I'd ever run into you again," he said.

"Yeah, neither did I…" Cobra mumbled. It was the truth, too. At first, Cobra had had every intention of avoiding Bickslow as best he could until the fateful day of their demise came, but he just hadn't been able to do it.

Bickslow sensed something was wrong with Cobra when he made a point of standing several feet away, staring down to the soft grass as he dug the toe of his boot into it to dig up the dirt. He seemed… uncomfortable. Like he was worried about something.

"Are you okay?" Bickslow asked. It didn't even occur to him that he'd forgotten about feeding the squirrels until one of them nibbled on his finger – his palm had been emptied and they didn't like that.

Cobra wished he was fine. It would make things simpler if he was. But he just wasn't, because Jellal was going to be moving on Fairy Tail in another few days, and for some fucking reason, Cobra needed to warn Bickslow of that.

They usually let a few members of each guild go, just because they couldn't always catch them because they weren't even there at the time, but with Fairy Tail it was going to be different. If enough members were left, Fairy Tail would easily be reformed, and without Cobra and his own guild making sure that each and every member had been accounted for (or at least  _almost_  all of them), they ran the risk of having to take down the reformed Fairy Tail at some point, and that was something they wanted to avoid. Fairy Tail would end up being like a hydra. They'd come back with twice as many heads, twice as much manpower, and the world would suffer because of it.

And while Cobra had accepted that it needed to be done, that the guild needed to be dealt with because they were wicked and cruel and the world didn't need people like that, Cobra just didn't want Bickslow to be in the middle of it. Jellal and the rest of them would want to skin him alive if they knew what Cobra planned to do, but that was why he planned on keeping it a secret. Only Midnight knew about Bickslow, but Cobra knew that Midnight could keep a secret.

Although as far as Midnight went, all he'd said was that he found it quite fitting for Cobra to develop something resembling feelings for someone he was about to throw in prison. Naturally, Cobra had denied it all anyway.

Still, some of it was true, and it was why Cobra had sought Bickslow out. He knew that he shouldn't have bothered, and that he should've just focused on the plans that Jellal and the rest of Crime Sorciere had made, but he just couldn't.

"I, uh… I need to tell you something," Cobra finally came to admit.

"Okay?"

Cobra's attention was drawn to the babies nestled in the long grass around Bickslow for a moment. He almost felt as if they were watching him, but he knew that wasn't the case because they couldn't actually  _see_  anything. He still thought they were peculiar little things.

He wasn't there to stare at the souls though. He was there to betray his friends.

He cleared his throat before he said, "I'm part of this… guild. A tiny one. We're not even a legal guild." He glanced back to Bickslow again just to find the man still watching him curiously, and it had Cobra quickly looking back to the woods beside him. "We… hunt mages, I suppose. We don't kill them, not intentionally at least. We just… We hurt them, or we pay someone to give an anonymous tip to the rune knights so they can come and lock all the bastards up. We destroy their guilds and… And make sure they don't come back again." He could tell Bickslow that it was all about atoning for all of the sins and crimes they'd committed in the past, but the entire thing just sounded self-righteous to Cobra so he wasn't even going to bother.

Bickslow shrugged. He didn't quite understand the point was trying to make, but he suspected there was a whole lot more to come. "Alright then."

"Your guild," Cobra said. "Fairy Tail."

"Uh-huh…"

"That's why I'm here."

Bickslow scoffed, tearing open the small bag to let the squirrels eat the rest of the seeds and nuts in there. "So, what, are you trying to tell me you're here to take down  _my_  guild?"

Cobra nodded. "On Friday. At sunrise. My guild… That's when we'll be there."

Bickslow thought it was insane, but he could tell Cobra was serious about it all though. They'd had people try and go against them before, and none of them had ever succeeded. He doubted that Cobra's guild would be any different.

Admittedly though, Bickslow had heard rumours about a small group of mages visiting every few days, poking around and asking questions about the guild. He hadn't thought much of it, and neither had anyone else in the guild. Cobra's timely appearance in those woods seemed to make far too much sense all of a sudden.

He only had one question about it, though. Why was Cobra even there right then, telling him that in just a few more days, he was going to be doing his best to take him and his guild down? They were technically enemies, Bickslow supposed, and while that didn't bother him in the slightest for some reason, he still wondered why Cobra didn't seem to care about it either.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked softly.

"I don't want you to be there on Friday morning," Cobra answered.

"Why? Scared you'll lose if you fight me?" Bickslow teased.

Cobra wasn't worried about that, even if he knew what the man's magic made him capable of. "I don't want to fight you at all." He didn't want to do it personally, and he didn't want anyone else to do it either. He just didn't want Bickslow to be there at all. "I don't want you to be involved," he whispered.

"Oh." Bickslow knew what Cobra was trying to say – he was trying to say that he cared. They'd only seen each other twice, and only really talked once, but Cobra was someone that Bickslow would willingly spend time with just because he enjoyed it. After the time they'd spent in the cave during the storm, he'd found it a little disappointing to know that Cobra had only been visiting that part of Fiore for work.

Even knowing what that  _work_  was, Bickslow was still disappointed over knowing that he really wouldn't get to see Cobra again soon. He couldn't really care less about Cobra's own guild trying to take down Fairy Tail in just a few more days. He was inclined to think they all deserved it, and even then, there was no way Cobra could win. That was a distressing thought for Bickslow though, because where Cobra said he didn't want  _him_  to be involved in the fight to come, Bickslow just didn't want Cobra to be involved either, because he knew he'd get hurt.

"It won't work," Bickslow said finally, where all Cobra had been doing was watching to see just how horrible his reaction would be. "Whatever your plan is, it won't work."

It wasn't the one Cobra had expected – he'd expected more rage than anything, perhaps a little delayed. Bickslow just didn't seem to care. "It will," Cobra insisted. Now that he knew what the whole plan was, Cobra was certain of it. They'd all planned it out meticulously, with every possible scenario considered. They'd gathered information that Cobra honestly had no fucking clue how they'd gotten. But he knew that it would work. Fairy Tail's only advantage was their numbers, but that just wasn't going to be enough, not when Jellal was more than ready to destroy half the town to take the wicked fairies down. "It will work. You stand no chance. I guarantee that."

Bickslow sighed through his nose. Cobra was so convinced that a part of Bickslow couldn't really help but believe him. Still… If it was all true, Bickslow had no interest in knowing the details of whatever plan Cobra and his guild had. He was usually horrible at keeping things to himself, and the last thing Bickslow wanted or needed was to be slipping up and mentioning something about Cobra, and having Erza overhear. Bickslow would quite literally rather die that have that happen, and he did actually like his life.

Well, most of the time, he did.

"So what would happen afterwards?"

Cobra couldn't help but notice the way the babies began to slowly circle around Bickslow, almost as if they were protecting him. "What do you mean?"

"After you  _win_ ," Bickslow mumbled, rolling his eyes slightly. "Or whatever it is you're aiming to do. What happens?"

"You'll be arrested and put to trial. I doubt half of you will be released." Some wouldn't even make it to a cell – they'd be put to work somewhere and monitored, and they'd probably be forced to wear magic suppressing cuffs just for good measure. Others wouldn't be so lucky. They could spend half their lives in prison, or if they're  _lucky_ , have committed crimes so horrible that the magic council decided to have them executed. Cobra wished he'd been one of those lucky ones at one point.

"And what about you?"

Cobra shrugged. "I don't know," he said quietly. He'd probably just follow Jellal and keep on that endless path to redemption.

"I see…"

Cobra watched as Bickslow rose from the ground and dusted the dirt from his hands. The squirrels scurried back into the woods, and for a second, Cobra thought they were cute. But the cuteness of the pests didn't stop him from quickly saying, "I'm sorry."

Bickslow smiled at him as he pulled his visor from an inside pocket and clipped it in place. "What for?"

"For… For all of this. For what's going to happen. I didn't mean for it to turn out this way. I swear it. I just… I didn't know that you… That you were—"

"That I happened to be one of the people you're trying to remove from the world?" Bickslow finished. Cobra gave a small nod. "We all have our jobs to do. Yours is just more noble than mine. That's not something you need to be sorry for." Bickslow wished more than anything that things weren't having to turn out that way, but he knew there was nothing to be done about it. And while it was unfortunate, he still didn't want Cobra to apologise. His job was to rid the world of evil, and Bickslow knew he was that evil.

He liked to think though, that had they not ended up being on opposite sides of the same fight, that they could've been at least friends.

Before Bickslow could leave, Cobra added softly, "Please don't be there on Friday." He knew Bickslow had heard him as well, but he didn't say anything back.

* * *

"Is something troubling you, Bickslow?"

He looked up to find Freed standing in front of him, holding out a glass of water, and a worried expression on his face. Laxus sitting in the corner was watching him the same way, and Evergreen was just the same as she leant on the wall next to the kitchen, drying a plate in her hands.

Something had been off with Bickslow all day. When he'd gotten to the guild that morning, he hadn't even bothered telling Natsu and Gray off for setting two of his totems on fire and encasing the other three in ice. When they'd been out in the town earlier, taking care of a businessman who hadn't been paying his agreed upon taxes, Bickslow had only stood by and watched. And when they'd all gone back to Freed's apartment for the evening, Bickslow had just kept to himself. He hadn't even helped cook, which was something he usually enjoyed. And all day, Bickslow had just been so uncharacteristically quiet, which was the biggest sign that something was wrong.

They wouldn't be a team if they didn't care about each other, and they all cared what was bothering their teammate that day.

The truth was though, that Bickslow had been thinking about what Cobra had said to him that morning. He couldn't stop thinking about what was to come on Friday morning. He knew why Cobra's guild had chosen Friday morning for their plan. Almost everyone would still be in the guild from Thursday night, either too hungover (or still drunk) to fight once morning came; they were supposed to be celebrating the guild's anniversary, not that Bickslow knew what year it was up to anymore.

Bickslow knew that Cobra didn't want him there when it happened, because he didn't want to be the one to put him in a cell for the rest of the days. Bickslow didn't want to fight Cobra either. If he was honest, he didn't want to fight at all. He just didn't want anything to do with it.

He only stared at the glass of water in his hands before looking up and asking, "Do you guys ever think about leaving?"

"Leaving? Like, the guild?" Evergreen asked.

Bickslow nodded. It wasn't the first time he'd thought about it, but with what was going to happen, now Bickslow was seriously considering it.

The rest of them shared matching looks of concern before Freed asked, "Where is this coming from?" He couldn't say that they hadn't each thought of leaving, but they'd been fleeting thoughts – the same kind that the thoughts of taking the guild for themselves had been.

"Nowhere. Don't worry," Bickslow mumbled. He couldn't tell his team what was going to happen. He wanted to, but he knew he couldn't. He couldn't tell anyone what he knew, because he wasn't supposed to know it in the first place. But Cobra had risked telling him just because they'd become close somehow. "I just… I think I'm just going to head home and get an early night," he said when he stood from the sofa then. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

He heard them all mumble goodnights to him as he gathered up his cloak and visor and left with the babies following behind him. He didn't even bother flying home on the babies, and instead just slowly walked on his own two feet, all the way back to his tiny apartment on the edge of town.

He turned the light on in the small space out of sheer habit, but seeing how little he had to fill the space just made him sigh and turn the light back off. It would be so easy to just leave and go somewhere else. The only thing tying him to that town was the guild. Although really, it wasn't even the guild anymore. It was his team. They were a family – admittedly a slightly unconventional one, but a family nonetheless. Laxus, Evergreen, Freed. They were all that kept Bickslow there.

As he curled around the babies in the middle of his bed, Bickslow thought about what it would be like if he left. He wondered where he'd even go. Would he stay in Fiore? Or would he move someplace else. He'd heard nice things about the beaches of Enca. And then what about his life? Would he be free to do as he pleased, or would he have to spend his time constantly looking over his shoulder in fear of being carted back to Fiore and arrested?

Perhaps it'd all work out, though. Perhaps he could move someplace warm and live a normal life. Maybe he'd be able to get a job in a café, or at a library, or just anywhere, really. Maybe he wouldn't have to use his magic to get anywhere. Maybe he could just feel normal for once.

Bickslow knew he'd be better off without the guild. If it had been a few years earlier, then he wouldn't even be considering leaving, but things had been different then. They'd still had some sense of morals back then. Now though… Now all any of them cared about was making sure the town feared them. Bickslow didn't like that. Not anymore at least. He was sick of being feared, and he was sick of hurting people. He was sick of the way things were run, which was why he and the rest of his team had once thought about fighting the rest of the guild themselves. The only reason they hadn't was because they'd known they stood no chance, not while Erza and the rest of her own team were around.

And then with Cobra's plan… Bickslow was still certain that it would be in vain. There was no way they'd be taken down. It was just impossible. And Bickslow certainly didn't want to be there to see Cobra and the rest of his guild get slaughtered.

But for the most part, Bickslow just had no idea what to do. He'd been given the perfect opportunity to just pick up his life and take it wherever he pleased. He could go and start anew somewhere. But he could also stay with the guild and with his team like he was expected to, and see to it that Cobra and his guild saw how stupid they'd been to pick a fight with Fairy Tail of all guilds.

He just didn't know.

* * *

It had been over before it had even started. They'd stood no chance against them, and it had been exactly as Jellal and the rest of Crime Sorcière had planned. It helped that the rune knights had been there earlier than expected to help them wipe Fairy Tail out. Cobra's first instinct when he'd seen them had been to run in the opposite direction, but that was before he'd found out that Jellal had made a deal with the council – full pardons for all of them if they succeeded in taking the fairies down.

The worst part about it all though, at least to Cobra, was that Bickslow had still been there. He hadn't stayed away like Cobra so hoped he would. He'd chosen to stay with his guild and be taken down along with them. Cobra supposed that it was because of loyalty, and he had to give Bickslow credit for that. They didn't need to be good people to be loyal to one another.

Still, Cobra just hated that it had turned out that way. The only upside about it all was that Bickslow had been one of the smarter ones who'd just surrendered straight away, accepting their fate after they'd seen their master defeated. He hadn't gotten a single scratch on him.

The rune knights had taken over quickly, leaving Crime Sorcière to disappear once again. Cobra hadn't gone with them, though. He'd stayed just to see Bickslow be escorted into one of the awaiting wagons heading straight for the magic council's prison. They'd put magic sealing cuffs on every single person there. From where Cobra had been standing, he'd just been able to make out one of the knights throwing the wooden tikis into one of the large crates that was already piled high with documents and ledgers from the guild. Cobra had guessed that the souls hadn't actually been in them – Bickslow would've been smart enough to transfer them out while he'd still been able to – but judging by how he'd winced at the way the pieces of wood had been thrown in, Cobra could tell that the bodies themselves meant something to Bickslow as well.

By the time Bickslow had been picked up by the knights and put in the line to go into one carriage, Cobra was close enough to hear his soul. He had guessed Bickslow staying was to do with his loyalty to his guild, but it was more than that. There was a strange peace within him, one that could only come from acceptance. It was the fate Bickslow had accepted for himself, but it was also the one he'd chosen, because there was a part of him that believed he deserved it.

Cobra understood that feeling, but if Bickslow was there just because he thought he deserved that punishment, then he knew that he'd had no hope in hell of convincing him to stay away. That didn't make it any better, though, because he still wished it had gone differently.

Right before the knights could push him up the steps and into the back of the wagon, Bickslow turned to look over his shoulder to face Cobra again, managing a smirk as he said, "Don't worry, little snake. We'll meet again someday."

Cobra couldn't help the way the corner of his mouth lifted up, a small smirk on his own lips. Somehow, Bickslow's words both terrified him and thrilled him.


	8. Horizon

Bickslow couldn't help but sigh as the man behind him groaned into the rough pillow. The seas were rough that night, and Erik was suffering, just as he usually was.

He finished pulling on the loose trousers and returned to the bed with the bottle of rum, carefully climbing over the sea-sick man to settle himself on the far side of the mattress, sitting up against the wall of the cabin. Even Bickslow was feeling a little queasy from the sea that night, and that was a rare thing, considering he'd spent more time on a ship than on land. But it was worse for Erik. It was always worse for Erik.

Bickslow took a swig from the bottle before he held it in front of Erik's face. "Here. Drink something."

Erik was slow to grasp the green bottle, and even slower to pull himself up just enough to take a sip. A shiver went down his spine as he handed it back to Bickslow. "God, that tastes fucking horrible," he groaned. He'd never quite understood how the men who spent their lives on ships could stomach drinking nothing but rum all the time. The fresh water only lasted for a few weeks – although with the rain that night, they should have enough to get them through another week or so – and then after that, it was just straight rum and nothing else. Erik really hated it.

"Well, it's better than seawater," Bickslow chuckled.

"To be fair,  _anything_  is better than seawater," Erik mumbled. Seawater was always the last resort, and as much as he hated the taste of rum after living off it for weeks and months at a time, he would still always take it over the salty liquid that called itself  _water_.

The winds were just as rough as the seas from the storm, and even with most of the sails down to prevent them from catching and tipping overnight, the ship was still moving far too much for Erik's liking. When the ocean was calm and the winds were in their favour, it was tolerable – he'd just spend most of his time holding onto a rope or a mast or even the side of the ship to stop  _himself_  from moving too much. But the summer storms were rough in those waters, and even with the worst of the storms being further out at sea, the ships that sailed in those waters still had to deal with the strong winds and the rough waves.

Erik knew that storm would be over by morning, but he still had a long night ahead of him.

He squeezed his eyes shut when his stomach rolled again, right as the ship around them groaned and creaked in the rough waves. He supposed the handful of men left on deck had it worse, though. Erik could at least suffer in the comfort of the captain's cabin during the storms, somewhat warm and dry and with the captain himself to try and distract him. But the men who had to watch the ship and make sure she kept sailing… Erik would hate to be them.

The nausea subsided for a moment and Erik opened his eyes again, looking towards his clothes hanging on the back of the chair near the stern windows. "Get my clothes, will you?"

Bickslow set the bottle of rum down out of the way so he could climb back over Erik, pulling the calico fabrics from the chair to hand them back to Erik. He didn't watch Erik dress again, and instead turned his attention to the row of windows at the back of the cabin. Bickslow couldn't even tell the rain from the spray of the sea from inside his cabin.

"Where do you think we should go next?" he asked.

"You mean after we're out of this fucking storm?"

Bickslow rolled his eyes. "Yes, once we're out of this storm," he muttered. Although Bickslow knew they'd be clear of it by the morning anyway, assuming they kept on the heading they currently were.

He turned around to lean over his desk in the middle, moving aside an empty chalice, pistol, and a pile of faded papers to peer at the large map laid out underneath it all. That was part of what kept Bickslow at sea. He loved the adventure of it all; being able to explore the entire world and see what it had to offer. There was always something new to find, and Bickslow always wanted to be the one to find it.

"I heard there's no governor on Saber Island anymore," Bickslow said, looking down at the amended map on the table. "Could be good for us."

With the Alvarez Empire now reaching the northern islands of Ishgar, there weren't many ports or towns left that Bickslow could safely enter. Everyone on his ship would be arrested as soon as they got to a port and found guilty of piracy and god knows what else. Bickslow couldn't let that happen to his crew, nor to himself. Thankfully there were still places left that were under no rule and men like him could call those places home, but it wouldn't be long before the Redcoats came for them, too.

"Maybe," Erik agreed. "We could always just go home, though."

"To Cerberus?"

Erik shrugged. "The crew are probably wanting a good fuck already, and we're running low on supplies anyway," he reasoned. "Besides, you need a new goat. No one wants to touch the damn thing after Cade fucked it."

"Cade fucked the goat?"

"So I've heard."

Bickslow shook his head and let out a sigh. "Jesus Christ, that man has issues," he muttered. "But fine, we'll head back to Cerberus and we'll get a new dairy goat. I'll tell Mr Justine to adjust course in the morning. I doubt anyone on the crew will have objections to that." And admittedly, they had been out for a while, so it was about time they headed home for a little while before going off in search of their next prize.

Their last prize had come with nine new men joining their ranks, the last of a small merchant crew. None of them were native to West Ishgar, as far as Bickslow had been able to tell. They would only be familiar with the pirate-governed island of Quarto by name and nothing else, so a visit to their new home port would be of value.

If anything though, it'd get his men off the ship and away from the livestock. Bickslow couldn't give a shit who his crew decided to fuck, whether it be each other or any of the women in the brothel in Cerberus, just as long as it wasn't the damn animals. Now he had a scarred goat he had to deal with, all because one of his crew decided he was more into the livestock than his own kind.

He pushed away from the desk to return to his bed, lying down beside Erik once he'd finished dressing and laid back down. "Come 'ere," Bickslow mumbled. He lifted up his arms just to pull Erik towards him, only bringing them back around Erik's shoulders once he lowered his head to rest just below Bickslow's chin. Bickslow still wasn't surprised to feel how warm Erik was, but Erik relished in how cool Bickslow's skin felt against his face.

Bickslow was always one for being fair. He always did his best to avoid giving special treatment to anyone on his crew. But Erik was different. Erik had  _always_  been different. And Erik had been on that ship long enough for the crew to not to really question or complain about how Bickslow tended to play favourites just a little bit when it came to the man. It wasn't like any of them actually missed out on anything anyway, and the only difference between the rest of the crew and Erik was that Bickslow loved him. His crew, he respected. But Erik was different.

The ship creaked in the rough seas and Erik held his eyes shut and did his best to ignore the rolling of his stomach. He always looked forward to the times he could get off the ship and stand on solid ground for a while. It was better when it was on Quarto, but even just the small islands they stopped at every now and then when the hull needed to be repaired were good enough for him.  _Anything_  was better than being on a constantly moving vessel.

But it was when the seas were bad like that, that Erik wished he was somewhere else.

"I think I'm going to stay when we get to Cerberus."

Bickslow lifted his head slightly to look down at Erik. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"When we get to Cerberus… I'm going to stay there," Erik repeated. "I'll leave the crew and stay on Quarto."

"…What? Why… Why would you?" Bickslow whispered.

Erik gave a small shrug. "I'm useless here." He'd considered leaving before, but the only reason he'd stayed on the crew and on the ship for as long as he had was because of Bickslow. He didn't regret it, but he was over being constantly sick and it just wasn't worth it anymore. He'd never actually been any use to Bickslow on that ship, and had Bickslow not been the captain, Erik knew he would've been kicked off the ship within a week of joining the crew. There was no room for people who spent most of their time hunched over the side of the deck. "It makes no sense for me to stay on the crew."

"It makes perfect sense."

"Bicks, it doesn't. You know that," Erik said softly.

Bickslow begged to differ. As far as he was concerned, Erik belonged on that ship. It didn't matter that he was essentially useless as a crew member and that Erik was basically just there because Bickslow was there. Bickslow still thought he belonged there. It had been so long that Bickslow wasn't even sure if it was possible to be on a ship without Erik, because it had just always been like that. For as long as Bickslow could remember, Erik had been by his side.

Ever since they'd been children, Erik had been right there. When they'd been kids, it had been them running through the streets together and getting into as much trouble as the could, stealing bread and apples from the local merchants and sneaking onto trader ships at the port. They'd been absolute nightmares for their mothers. When they'd been old enough, they'd managed to get themselves onto a small merchant crew as mere cabin boys. By the time they'd been fifteen, they'd been enlisted into the ranks of a pirate crew, and Bickslow wouldn't have had it any other way.

But Bickslow had been on boats and ships almost his entire life, and he'd always had Erik there with him. The idea that Erik wouldn't be there one day just scared him.

In saying that though, Bickslow could see why Erik would want to leave. He'd always gotten sick, right from when they'd been children. It had gotten worse as he'd gotten older, and as little as Bickslow minded or cared about how having to comfort Erik when he was sick, it was still something that could be avoided – if Erik stayed on land.

Bickslow let out a small sigh before he let his head rest on the pillow again, bringing his arm up behind Erik so he could begin absentmindedly sifting his fingers through the course maroon hair. "So what happens after?" he asked. "If you do leave and stay at Cerberus."

Erik gave another small shrug. "Hadn't thought that far yet," he mumbled. "Perhaps I'll move to the interior and live on a farm or something."

Bickslow snorted. "You, on a farm? You mean with actual grass and crops and animals?"

"Fuckin' perfect, ain't it?"

"Now that I would love to see."

Erik couldn't help but smile softly for a moment. He wouldn't work on a farm, that was for sure. But the idea of a quieter life was just a little appealing, one where he wasn't constantly nauseous and just in the way of everyone else. "Yeah, I bet you would." It would definitely be a sight. With a gentle sigh, Erik opened his eyes and lifted his hand to lightly trace over the small snake Bickslow had tattooed on his chest above his heart. "Maybe I'll just see if Eleanor is ready to give up the pub yet. I could probably buy it off her for cheap, let her retire to the interior."

"That wouldn't be a horrible idea. You could be my eyes and ears on Quarto. Well…  _eye_  and ears." Erik dug his fingers into the Bickslow's side and he couldn't help but chuckle and wince in pain. "Come on, I'm just messing with you."

"Yeah, sure…"

Bickslow waited until Erik had gotten comfortable again before quietly asking, "So you really want to stay in Cerberus once we get there?"

"I think so."

Bickslow couldn't help but sigh. "Well, I don't like it, but you know I won't stop you."

"I know. And thank you."

* * *

Seith's Revenge sat in Quarto's overcrowded port for just two weeks. Erik had been the first to get off when they'd arrived, and in the days that followed, he didn't get back on it. Not even to collect the few belongings that were held in the captain's cabin and below deck, although Bickslow collected them later on.

Eventually though, after being restocked and once the crew had gone and spent (or lost) all their shares from the last prize, it came time for Bickslow to take his men and his ship and sail out of the protected waters. He'd been dreading it, just because it meant finally leaving Erik, but in his head, he knew it wouldn't be for long anyway. It didn't help that he preferred being out in the middle of the ocean. He was the opposite of Erik in that sense.

Bickslow watched the rigging crew get the ropes and sails ready for their departure. Standing behind him on the dock, Erik stepped forward slightly just to knock the back of Bickslow's knee with his foot and get his attention. "You know they'll just leave without you if you don't hurry the fuck up and get up there," he said.

Bickslow scowled. "They will fucking not," he muttered. No, they weren't stupid enough to take off with his ship. His quartermaster and sailing master would make sure of that. He knew Erik was just teasing him anyway.

"You still need to leave."

"I know," Bickslow sighed.

Erik knew all too well that Bickslow would stay for longer if he could, but he didn't want that. Bickslow was the one who belonged out there, not him. And it wasn't like Erik particularly enjoyed them having to go their separate ways like that, but he knew it was for the best. He knew that Bickslow was aware of that too, but Erik had known him for so long that he knew how Bickslow just needed a push to do things occasionally. And right then, he knew Bickslow needed a push to get his ass back on his ship and get back to where he belonged.

"You know you'll be back here in a few months," Erik said reassuringly. "It's not like we won't see each other again."

"I know," Bickslow said again, letting out another sigh. He was just going to constantly miss Erik until he got to see him again. He didn't really know how to live without him anymore. Still, he knew it was time to set sail. It was getting awfully close to sunset and Bickslow didn't like sailing at night unless he was chasing someone. With another glance back to his ship to see that the jibs and mainsails had been lowered, Bickslow reached inside his leather vest to procure a small compass with scuffed brass plating. "But… Here, I want you to have this."

Erik looked down to the compass that Bickslow gently placed into his hand, folding his fingers around it and keeping his own hand on top for a moment. "A compass? Seriously? What the fuck am I going to do with that?" A half smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and Bickslow grinned back at him.

"Any decent sailor deserves a decent compass. And, well, you're you, so you're bound to get lost without one," Bickslow joked. "Besides. This one is special."

"How so? It points east instead of north?"

"Not quite. It's supposed to point to what you want most – or so I've been told."

Erik looked down once Bickslow brought his hand back to his side, just to find the needle spinning around inside the glass, failing to stop and point anywhere for more than half a second. "Honestly, it looks like it's just a broken piece of junk," he scoffed.

That, Bickslow honestly agreed with, but that didn't matter. "You need to use your imagination more, Erik."

"Maybe."

There was a pause, and then Bickslow stepped forward to wrap his arms around Erik as tightly as he could. "I'm going to miss you," he said softly.

"I know you will," Erik whispered. "But now you'll have more of a reason to come back here. I can be your  _eye_  and ears on Quarto, remember?"

Bickslow couldn't help but chuckle quietly to himself, shaking his head slightly. He really didn't care all that much for visiting the small group of islands that made up Quarto. It was easy enough to get the supplies he needed from stealing from the other ships out at sea. The only reason he still bothered making a point of sailing back to Quarto and to Cerberus was because his men liked going – they liked spending everything they had on booze and women. And Bickslow wasn't going to stop them from doing that.

Still, now he would have to make a point of going back whenever he could. The crew wouldn't object.

Pulling away, Bickslow only kissed the top of Erik's head and said softly, "Don't get into too much trouble without me, alright?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Bickslow accepted it with a nod, and hesitantly drawing back, letting his hand slide all the way down to Erik's fingertips, he finally turned to board his ship where his crew waited.

Erik stayed at the dock and watched the black ship with the red sails depart. With the favourable winds, the nameplate at the back became illegible not long after she departed.

It was only then that Erik looked back down to the broken compass. And when he did, he found the needle pointing straight ahead to the clear waters of the island and to the ship slowly fading into the horizon.


	9. Halloween

Pearl had just turned four when she'd asked to go trick-or-treating. At the time, Bickslow and Erik had said no, just because they'd thought their daughter was a little too young for it, and they'd only finalised her adoption two months earlier so they'd still been focusing on making sure she was settled into her new home.

When she turned five, she asked again, but after considering it for a few days, Bickslow and Erik once again said no. That year, they'd been too worried about her getting too scared and they'd still thought she was just a little too young.

When she turned six, however, after asking them at least a million times, Bickslow and Erik finally agreed to take her trick-or-treating on Halloween. She'd started asking back in June, long before she'd even actually turned six at the beginning of October, so once her dads had said yes, they'd had plenty of time to figure out some kind of plan and get all of their costumes organised.

In the weeks leading up to Halloween, Pearl talked about going trick-or-treating so much that Erik had started thinking that his daughter actually loved Halloween more than his husband did. Of course, he'd known it was impossible because as far as he was concerned, Bickslow was the king of Halloween, but Pearl was still a contender for that crown. Their house had a small porch, so Pearl took great delight in helping Bickslow stack the decorative pumpkins on the railing, the steps, and even on the edge of the path. She'd gotten to wrap the black ribbon around the columns supporting the roof, and Bickslow had lifted her up just so she'd been able to hang the leafy wreath with the bats on the door.

And then come Halloween, she'd been all too excited to wear her cat-print stockings and her obnoxiously orange shirt with the spooky pumpkin to school. She'd wanted to wear her Halloween costume, but thankfully, Erik had managed to talk her out of it with the promise of sausage muffins on the way to school.

It was still light by the time it was finally time to go trick-or-treating. They'd decided that if they were to take Pearl trick-or-treating that it would have to be early in the evening and not so late that they were still out when the older kids went trick-or-treating on their own. Unsurprisingly, Pearl had been the first to get ready. As soon as Bickslow had picked her up from school on his way home from work, she'd gone and changed into her costume and asked if it was time to go yet.

Once the sun was just slowly beginning its descent, Bickslow finally put on his own costume and got a quick snack fixed up for Pearl to give Erik time to change into his own costume. At first, Erik hadn't wanted to dress up as anything, but his husband and daughter were forces to be reckoned with, especially when they were combined.

Tugging on the side of her father's long cloak, Pearl jumped up and down as she whined, "Can we go yet? Please, Daddy?"

Bickslow couldn't help but chuckle quietly. "Soon, hun. We have to wait for Daddy Erik to finish getting ready," he said.

Pearl pouted and huffed. "He takes too long," she muttered. Bickslow was inclined to agree.

A few minutes later, Erik finally emerged from the hallway, visibly uncomfortable as he fiddled with the high collar of his cape. It thankfully wasn't tight around his neck, but it was annoying as it brushed against the bottom of his ears occasionally. Seeing his husband and daughter waiting for him in the living room, Erik only sighed and pulled out the plastic fangs from a pocket in his waistcoat. "God, aren't we a sight," he mumbled.

Anyone would think they were insane (which they probably were). He was a vampire, Bickslow was supposed to be some kind of knight, complete with a metal visor, and Pearl had insisted on being a green dragon with a pink tutu, so they'd bought her a dragon onesie and a bright pink tutu to put on over it.

"I, for one, think we all look amazing," Bickslow said.

"Especially me!" Pearl chimed in.

"Yes, especially you," Erik agreed. Seriously though, he thought his daughter was cute.

Brimming with energy, Pearl ran forward to grab Erik's hand and drag him towards the front door. "We have to go now!" she insisted.

"Wait, hold on! I haven't even got my keys yet—"

"I've got them, don't worry," Bickslow said from behind him.

Erik sighed and just let his daughter drag him out the front. "Alright, fine, we can go now." He didn't even like Halloween much – it had always been Bickslow's thing and Bickslow had always accepted that Erik didn't like it – but he was pretty much incapable of saying no to Pearl when it came to most things. He preferred to keep her happy, and if that just meant dressing up as a fucking vampire and walking up and down the street for an hour, then so be it.

Bickslow locked the door and joined his husband and daughter a few moments later. There were a few other families out already, but most of the children in their neighbourhood were older and wouldn't be going until later in the evening (if at all).

Their first stop was to their neighbour on the left. As Pearl ran up the front path of the lavishly decorated yard, Bickslow remained on the sidewalk with Erik and just waited for Pearl to return. They knew the elderly couple of that house well. When they'd first bought that house, just a year before they'd adopted Pearl, the couple next door had been the first people to officially welcome them to the neighbourhood. They were some of the nicest people that Bickslow and Erik had ever met, and more than once over the last few years, they'd had to rely on them to look after Pearl for a few hours or for a night when certain things came up.

Pearl knocked on the door with the fall-leaf wreath and a moment later the door opened to reveal the older lady that inhabited the small house. From where Bickslow stood at the front of the garden, he couldn't quite hear what she said, but he wasn't worried anyway. She dropped a handful of fun-sized chocolates and individual candies into Pearl's basket and sent her on her way, making a point to wave to Bickslow and Erik on the path before she closed her door again.

"What'd she give you?" Bickslow asked as they all stepped back onto the path and headed for the next house. "Anything good?"

"M&Ms and skittles," Pearl answered.

"You better hide the skittles from Daddy Erik. He'll eat them otherwise."

"Oi, I will not," Erik grumbled. Granted, he did like skittles, especially the yellow ones, but he wasn't going to steal his daughter's Halloween candy. No, he'd seen far too many prank videos of children crying once they found out their parents had eaten all of their lollies, and Erik really didn't want to make Pearl cry.

"Daddy please don't eat my skittles," Pearl giggled.

Erik sighed and rolled his eye at her, pulling his hand from his pocket just to push the nose of her dragon onesie hood down over her head slightly and mess up her blonde hair underneath. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna touch your skittles."

By the time the street lights had come on, Pearl's trick-or-treating basket was already half full. There were a few things in there she was allergic to since they had nuts in them, but Erik had been planning on going through all of it once they got home anyway. They stopped at another house that had their porch light on and an already rotting pumpkin sitting outside, the usual sign that they were accepting trick-or-treaters, and Erik followed behind Pearl as she walked up the path to the door.

She lifted her hand to knock on the plain door. She heard shuffling inside, and then the door was ripped open so quickly that even Erik jumped slightly. Before Pearl could even say trick-or-treat, the overweight man in the stained singlet and boxer shorts reached for a baseball bat that had been sitting inside his house and held it up. "Get the fuck off my property, you little shit!" he shouted, holding the bat in two hands and stepping past the threshold of his house. "Go on, get!"

Erik was quick to pull Pearl back and step in front of her. "Dude, what the fuck?! She's a kid!"

"Go before I call the cops, you fucking fa—"

Like Erik had actually needed another reason to get the fuck away from the psycho with the bat, but he was somehow even more willing to leave after that. "Alright, jeez… We're going…" he mumbled. "Calm down." Pearl was trembling as he guided her back down the steps and over to where Bickslow was waiting worriedly, and Erik didn't even blame her for being scared.

She wasn't scared of the clowns or the spiders or the witches or even the bats. But that guy? Even Erik was just a little shaken.

"Are you okay?" Bickslow asked softly as he crouched down to check on Pearl.

She gave a small nod. "Don't like him."

"Yeah, me neither."

Before they left, Erik glanced back over his shoulder to the house to find the man spying on them through the window. He didn't really want to stick around there. Not at all. "Come on, let's get out of here."

When they'd moved to that neighbourhood, they'd done their research. They'd moved there specifically because it had been in the catchment area for one of the better schools in the city, and because it had always come across as a lovely place to live and raise a family – which is what they'd intended to do. And while Bickslow and Erik had found it to be true, they'd also found there to be just a few bad apples. The man who was no doubt going to give Pearl nightmares that night was an example of that.

They knew it wasn't something that could be completely avoided, though, because every neighbourhood, no matter how fancy, would have someone like that. It was just unfortunate to have to deal with them occasionally. Had either of them known that someone like that had lived in that house and that Pearl would've been threatened for just knocking on his door, then they would've made a point of just walking straight past that house and heading to the next one.

When they reached the end of their short street, instead of crossing the road and deciding to head back down the other side, Bickslow decided to stop and suggest, "How about we go visit Aunt Lucy?" She lived a few streets over, but it would be a short walk, and after Pearl had made it obvious that she was too scared to visit any other houses, Bickslow thought that ending their evening by visiting someone Pearl actually knew would be for the best.

With Pearl only nodding to it, still holding onto Erik's hand beside her, they all went off to visit the woman named Pearl's aunt and godmother.

It took just a few minutes to reach Lucy's house, and they were walking up the path to her door just as another mother and her two children were leaving. Lucy didn't even get a chance to close her door before she saw Pearl and her two fathers coming up the path, and she held her arms open for the tutu-wearing-dragon. "Hi, Aunt Lucy."

Lucy could only stroke Pearl's hair as she hugged her stomach, her little arms not reaching all the way around her middle anymore now that she was just two weeks from her due date. "I was wondering if you'd make it over here tonight," she said softly. When Bickslow had told her a few months earlier that they were finally going to take Pearl trick-or-treating that year, she'd expected them to just stick to their own street. They still lived close enough, but when she had taken her son out trick-or-treating for the first time the previous year, she hadn't wanted to go too far just in case he got too frightened or tired.

"Yeah, well… We thought we'd end our little adventure on a good note," Bickslow said.

Lucy had a feeling that something might've happened, but she decided it was best not to ask. "Well, how about I go find the good candy, huh?" she said, stepping back slightly just to look down to Pearl with another smile. "I'm sure I have a bag of snakes in the cupboard somewhere."

They all followed Lucy into the kitchen after Pearl ran ahead. "Where's Juvia?" Erik asked, looking around the clean room as he took a seat at the counter. "Did she take Jamie out trick-or-treating?"

"Mm-hmm," Lucy hummed, opening up the pantry to pull out the glass jar full of rainbow snakes. "She won't be back for a little while though. Jamie wanted to go with some of his friends from school this year, so they're out in Hargeon tonight I believe."

"Really? All the way out there?" Bickslow asked.

"Yep." Lucy shrugged. It wasn't exactly ideal, but her wife was still with him so she didn't have anything to worry about. Had Jamie just gone with his friends and some of their parents, then she'd no doubt be up panicking, and she was trying not to stress so much those days. "Anyway, here you are, Pearl." Lucy opened the lid of the jar just to let Pearl reach in and grab a handful of the lollies. "These are  _ten_  times better than the ones everyone else is getting tonight." Her niece deserved the best.

"Thank you, Aunt Lucy!" Pearl giggled.

"So are you going to head home after this?" Lucy asked as she set the jar back in the pantry.

"Maybe," Bickslow said. "What do you think, Pearl? Do you want to go home? Or do you want to stop in at a few more houses first."

"Houses!" Pearl answered, mouth full of chewy candy.

"Hey, no talking with food in your mouth, missy," Erik said.

"Sorry, Daddy."

It was clear to Erik that Pearl had already forgotten about the scary man before, and that, he was glad for. As little as  _he_  liked Halloween, the last thing he wanted was his daughter's favourite holiday to be ruined by one jackass. Thankfully it hadn't been, and Pearl was once again set on having her trick-or-treating basket full of all kinds of candy and mini chocolate bars. There was plenty of room for more.

So after Lucy all but shooed them out the door (only after she'd given Pearl another handful of snakes and then some lollipops), they were on their way back home. By the time they reached their own house again, Pearl's basket was overflowing with candy and leaving a little trail up of candies the front path, that Bickslow did, in fact, pick up after her.

* * *

It had been close to midnight by the time Pearl finally crashed from her sugar high, and it had been right in the middle of the lounge room. Bickslow had gotten out of the shower to find her face-down in her pile of Halloween candy, with Erik sitting on the lounge and actually  _giggling_  about it – his own sugar high kicking in apparently.

After managing to carefully lift the girl from the floor to go tuck her into bed, Bickslow returned to the lounge room again to collapse down onto the sofa next to his husband, turning to rest against Erik's shoulder as he let out a quiet sigh. "So. That wasn't completely horrible," he said.

"Apart from that one asshole, sure," Erik agreed. But even with him, it had been a pretty great night. "You know Pearl is already thinking about what she wants to go as next year, right?"

"Doesn't surprise me," Bickslow chuckled. "What is she thinking of?"

"I believe she said something about a pirate mermaid. Or maybe it was a mermaid pirate."

"A pirate mermaid?"

"I have no idea. Honestly." Sometimes Erik wasn't sure what went through his daughter's head when she came up with shit like that. "Either way, I'm definitely not going as a vampire next year."

"No? Why not?"

"Those teeth were fucking annoying," he mumbled. "Also that collar itched like crazy."

Bickslow laughed again. "Well, I for one thought it suited you. But maybe  _you_  could go as a pirate next year. You and Pearl could match!"

"Only if you go as Poseidon or some shit."

"Deal."

Erik couldn't help but roll his eye at his husband. He thought their costumes had been bad that night, but there they were, already planning to go as a weird trio or pirates and mythical sea creatures. Admittedly, Erik did have to admit that it sounded kind of cute.

But thoughts of pirates and mermaids and sea gods didn't last for long, not when he remembered there was a giant pile of candy sitting in front of him. Pearl had already shared some of it with him, but there was a bag of skittles sitting right on top of it…

Bickslow quickly noticed it, too. "Erik, don't do it," he warned.

"But… It's just one bag…" Erik mumbled.

"And they're Pearl's, not yours."

"But…"

"Erik, do not eat your daughter's Halloween candy."

"But they taste so good!" Erik whined. "And it's just one bag. Like she'll actually notice."

"Because it's you, and you can never eat just  _one_  bag of skittles." Bickslow had quite literally watched him eat an entire bucket full of them over the course of one day. Granted, Erik had regretted it for the next two days, but he still had an unnatural love for the lollies and Bickslow knew that all too well.

Huffing, Erik only pushed Bickslow off of him quickly to get down onto the floor and snatch the bag of skittles from the pile. "Screw you. I can control myself."

Bickslow shook his head as his husband disappeared into the kitchen with the tiny bag of skittles, calling out to Erik before he was completely out of earshot, "She'll be mad at you…"

And, just as Bickslow had expected, by morning, Pearl's stash of Halloween candy had been void of all skittles. Thankfully, she didn't cry once she'd found out Erik had eaten all of them, but she did throw a pillow at his head while demanding cake  _and_  pizza for breakfast. It was only fair, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That brings BixCo Week to a close. Feedback is always appreciated!


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